Reading Level: Junior High

After Zero

Elise has spent years hearing her friend Mel talk about her friends at school. When Elise’s mother finally decides that Elise can go to public school, she is excited. But she soon discovers that it’s easy to say the wrong thing. When Elise accidentally spills a secret and makes a social media mistake, she decides it’s better to be quiet. Now, Elise tries to say as few words as possible. She keeps a notebook full of tallies, marking each word she says. Her goal is to get to zero words spoken.

At school, Elise is known as the quiet girl. She has made no friends, and even Mel is drifting away from her. Now, Elise isn’t sure she could talk if she wanted to. But when she learns a shocking family secret, Elise learns that silence may not be the answer for everything.

After Zero is a beautifully written story about Elise’s personal struggle. Readers will relate to Elise’s desire to make friends and her inability to understand social norms. Like many, Elise would like to connect with someone, but she’s so afraid of saying the wrong thing that she is unable to talk. The story focuses on Elise’s thoughts and struggles, which allows the reader to understand Elise’s thought process. Some of the girls become hostile because they misunderstand Elise’s silence. They do not understand that Elise truly believes that, “silence is the means of avoiding misfortune.”

Although Elise is lonely and bullied at school, her family life is even worse. Her mother hardly ever talks to her. When she gets in an argument with her mother, her “mother’s eyes flash. I’ve seen it before. Whether the loathing is for me or my father, or both, I’m not sure.” Elise lives in a silent world, which forces her to spend too much time focusing on her inner thoughts. After Zero explains Elise’s anxiety in a way that is understandable, allowing the reader to feel compassion for her.

The first person narration allows Elise’s personality to jump off the page. The story is the perfect blend of Elise’s internal turmoil and outside conflicts. The easy-to-read story highlights the importance of forgiveness and friendship. Elise’s story is not only enjoyable, but it will also stay with readers for a long time. Anyone who reads After Zero will come away with a new understanding of others’ struggles with anxiety. The story will also show readers the importance of having empathy for their peers.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • When Elise is lost in the woods, she comes across three teenagers who steal her backpack. “The girl and the curly-haired boy yank my wrists behind me and push me to the ground, pinning me there on my stomach. I jerk and squirm and try to shake them off. . . They put their weight on me with their hands and elbows, and one of them rests the sole of a boot against my cheek, pressing my face to the ground.” In order to get loose, Elise kicks the boy and later slams her elbow into the girl’s leg.
  • When Elise is lost in the woods, she sees a house. She’s afraid when she hears someone coming closer. “A boot plants itself in the grass behind me. I summon my muscles, or what’s left of them, and swing around, punching him hard, wherever my fist hit first. . . It turns out I hit a private area. He staggers back, clutching himself, his face contorted.”
  • At school, a group of girls gets upset that Elise won’t talk to them. One girl, “comes towards me, whipping a nail file out of her pocket. . . She grabs my wrist and twists it behind my back so fast and hard that I almost cry out. . .She pushes me against the guardrail again, and it rattles. . .” When Elise begins to fight back, a teacher appears and saves her. The scene takes place over five pages.
  • One of the teachers presents a poem about her sister that committed suicide.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • Elise had been told that her father was killed by a drunk driver. Later, she discovers that her father was driving drunk and had killed her two brothers.
  • Elise finds a picture of her father standing with her brothers. Her father, “was raising a beer bottle to the camera.” In another picture, “Emerson is sitting on my father’s shoulders while my father smiles at the camera, a beer can in hand.”

Language

  • A boy calls his friend a “doofus.”

Supernatural

  • Elise has a vision of her brother and Granny P. When she tries to talk to Granny P., she disappears. Later, the story hints that Elise hallucinated because she was so tired.
  • One of Elise’s teachers has a stuffed raven. The story implies that the raven comes to life and helps Elise in several situations. When the stuffed raven disappeared from the classroom, the teacher tells Elise, “Sometimes when we feel lost, the universe sends a little help. Something or someone to guide us on our path…And that can come in the most unexpected form.”

Spiritual Content

  • Elise’s mother does not celebrate her birthday, and her friend thinks it may be because she’s a Jehovah’s Witness. But Elise’s mother, “isn’t religious. I still remember the day a pair of missionaries came to our door and asked if she believed in God. ‘Once upon a time,’ she replied, and she shut the door in their faces.”
  • Elise finds a card that someone gave her mother. The card says, “praying your sons will pull through.”

Sasquatch and the Muckleshoot

Elliot wants life to be normal. Uchenna wants adventure. But when Professor Fauna takes the kids to the Pacific Northwest on another mission in the Muckleshoot territory in Washington, they discover that film crews have arrived in masses. The news crews want to find Bigfoot. But the news crews aren’t the only danger. The Schmoke brothers plan to clear the forest. Is there any way the Unicorn Rescue Society can help keep the Sasquatch hidden? Will the Sasquatch’s territory be destroyed by chainsaws?

The third installment of The Unicorn Rescue Society has the same lovable characters and the same evil villains. As the group heads to the Pacific Coast, the narration shows a strong love of nature and teaches the importance of taking care of the natural world, which includes logging responsibly. When the group arrives at their destination, they meet Mack, who shares the Muckleshoot’s culture.

Mack shares some of the Native Americans’ history, including how the “white folks. . . believed the white way of life was superior.” Because of this belief, the whites forced the Native Americans to give up their languages and customs. The white called this, “Kill the Indian and save the man.” Now the Native Americans are using some of their casino money to buy back the land that the whites stole from them. Even though the story shows the Muckleshoot people care for the forest and the animals, much of the dialogue seems to promote a political agenda instead of teaching about the Native American culture.

Sasquatch and the Muckleshoot is not as enjoyable as the first two books because the plot focuses less on the adventure of helping the mythical creature. The professor and kids do very little to help Mack find a solution to help the Sasquatch. In addition, the absent-minded professor is taken to the extreme. Even younger readers will have a hard time believing that the professor is so clueless that his plane runs out of gas. And how many times can the professor crash land his plane without anyone getting injured?

Readers will enjoy the black-and-white illustrations, funny puns, and the way Mack calls Elliot by a variety of names such as “Screams A Lot.” Other positive aspects of the story are the diverse characters and the use of Spanish and Lushootseed words and phrases. Sasquatch and the Muckleshoot has some humorous scenes, and readers will enjoy watching Elliot overcome his fear. Unlike the first two books in the series, Sasquatch and the Muckleshoot is missing much of the action and adventure that made the first two books fun to read.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • Four men capture the professor. The professor is, “smacked on the face with his shoe, but the others quickly grabbed his arms and legs. He struggled, but their hands were strong as tree roots.” The men tie up the professor.
  • When Uchenna, Elliot, and a friend dress up like Sasquatch, men try to grab them. The men, “grabbed the three juvenile Sasquatch and tried to wrestle them to the ground. The small furry ones fought valiantly, striking out with their fists and kicking the shins of the hard-hatted attackers. But they were overpowered and pinned to the mossy forest floor.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • “Darn” is used once.
  • A news reporter calls someone an “idiot.”
  • One of the characters knew someone in middle school who was a “real jerk.”
  • A man calls someone a “fool.”

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

Misfit

Devin can speak to animals, which helps her be a caring creature caretaker. She would rather be out in the woods healing animals than inside learning to be a princess. But she’s twelfth in line for the throne of Enchantasia, so there is no way she can avoid going to the Royal Academy.

Devin didn’t read the required material because she was too busy helping animals, but as soon as she arrives, she realizes that she is horribly out of place. While Devin is excited to meet Olivina, the beloved fairy godmother to Cinderella, Snow White, and Rapunzel, she is also enrolled in classes that don’t suit her interests, such as “How to write a love note,” and “From cha-chas to charming princess.”

When danger appears, Devin discovers that Olivina is obsessed with teaching the princesses to wait for the princes to save them. The students aren’t learning to rule a kingdom, but learning to be helpless. Devin knows that something is amiss. When the fairy godmother threatens to banish Devin, Devin must decide if she will act like a proper princess or if she will search for the secrets that Olivina is hiding.

Besides being an entertaining story, Misfits shows that not everyone can fit into a mold. Devin isn’t the only character that is unique. There’s a prince that is more interested in chopping vegetables than chopping off dragon’s heads. Another royal is more interested in telling the truth in her tabloids than talking about the latest fashion. These unique characters’ bravery shines as they fight to keep their classmates safe from fairy-tale monsters.

Throughout the story, Devin is frustrated by the princess rules. Snow White tells Devin, “What Olivina wants for all of us, more than anything, is to feel safe and secure in our roles.” The fairy godmother, Olivina, is upset when Devin saves herself and others from danger. Olivina says, “But that wasn’t your role to play, was it? You were supposed to let the princes do that. If they can’t rescue you, what are they good for?” Throughout the story, readers will learn that sometimes people need to break out of the roles society has given them.

Another theme is the importance of being honest. Professor Pierce teaches that it is important to, “be honest. Honesty is important in a royal—in all humans. . .” He also tells Devin, “Being royal means acting responsibly with the power that you’re given. It’s about making tough decisions for the good of your subjects.”

Full of fantastic fairy tale fun, Misfits follows Devin who is a lovable, unpredictable character. Devin isn’t interested in ball gowns or shoes, and she definitely isn’t interested in reading the required academy reading, which leads her into trouble right from the start. Devin’s caring, questioning behavior makes the reader root for the spunky girl. The cliff-hanger ending will leave readers eager to read the second book of the series, Outlaws.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • During a school ball, harpies attack. “A harpy snatches Hazel with its talons and flies off with her as princesses shriek in panic. Guests start stampeding in all directions. . .” The scene takes place over eight pages. While the teachers hide, the students come up with a plan to defeat the harpies.
  • When a student steals a dragon egg, the dragon attacks. A prince, “grabs another boy’s dagger and stabs it into the dragon’s tail. The dragon roars so loudly that the ground shakes violently.” Fire “rains down on the room.” Fairies put out the fire, and three students are able to return the egg.
  • When Devin goes to gym class, she is kidnapped. “A sack is pulled over my head as hands grab my ankles. Rope is wound around my hands and feet before I even have time to scream.” She is put in a room with other bound princesses. “Three more beams hit the floor in quick succession, one cracking the floorboards. The entire room starts to rumble and shake, while black smoke pours through the window.” The scene takes place over 11 pages. The girls escape unharmed.
  • During a school ball, the witch from Hansel and Gretel appears. “A huge plume of smoke billows from the middle of the dance floor. There are screams and shouts and running.” The witch steals the fairy godmother’s wand, and “Olivina passes out, hitting the floor hard, like a pancake. . . Boom! Boom! Boom! The students around us barely move before they collapse like Olivina, their swords and tiaras rolling onto the ground.” Someone is able to grab the magic wand from the witch, and “Poof! The witch dissolves into thin air.” The scene takes place over five pages. No one is injured.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • Devin uses the phrase, “Holy harpies,” when she is surprised.
  • “Darn” is used twice.

Supernatural

  • The story takes place in a fairy tale world. Magic is occasionally used. For example, the academy has a protection charm.
  • The fairy godmother travels by Poof Dust. She uses this to magically transport herself and others.
  • Devin can talk to animals and she knows several animal languages, including squirrel.
  • The official dressmaker uses magic to help create her dresses. The dressmaker, “snaps her fingers, and magic wands shoot off tables to finish the tasks she was doing for each girl.”
  • Milo is a talking mirror who can watch the girls and give them encouraging words.

Spiritual Content

  • None

Atlantia

The underwater world of Atlantia has been Rio’s home forever, but she dreams of living in the Above. When Rio has the chance to choose where to live, she wanted to choose the Above. But when her mother dies everything changes. Rio knows she must stay in the Below with her sister Bay. But when the day to choose comes, Bay makes the unexpected decision to go Above. Rio is stranded in the Below with no family. Now Rio only has questions. Was her mother murdered? If so, who wanted her dead? Why did Bay choose to go to the Above?

While Rio searches for her answers, she must hide her own secret. She has always hidden her powerful siren voice. When Rio’s estranged aunt Marie suddenly takes an interest in her, Rio wonders if Marie has discovered her secret. Can Marie be trusted to help Rio go Above, or will Marie lead her into danger? Rio hopes that Marie can answer her questions, but soon she learns that Atlantia’s history is more complex than the people have been told. Rio must listen to the voices of the past. And in the process, she hopes to save herself and her city.

The world of Atlantia is described in beautiful detail; however, the descriptions of a complex religion and history of the city make the beginning of the story slow. Although Rio is an interesting character, many may have a difficult time relating to her. When her sister Bay leaves to go to the Above, Rio is devastated and only thinks about how to join her sister in the Above. Because Rio had always planned to leave her sister, her motivation for going Above doesn’t ring true.

Atlantia is full of mystery, intrigue, and a dash of romance. Told from Rio’s point of view, readers get a look into what the world could look like if people destroy the land above the sea. Through Rio’s experiences, the reader will learn several positive messages including the importance of speaking up for yourself and others. Rio learns that many of the problems between the Above and the Below come from misunderstandings and fear. “People fear those who are different when really we are so much the same.” Rio realizes that “in order to save our city, we have to love each other more than ourselves.”

The ending of the story leaves a lot of unanswered questions, but it also has several surprises. Readers who want to read about mermaids should leave Atlantia on the shelf. Even though the story has sirens, the sirens are humans with a voice that can control people. If you enjoyed Ally Condie’s Matched series, and want to read more from the same author, just be aware that Atlantia is lacking the same action and suspense that makes the Matched series so enjoyable. Readers will either love or hate Atlantia. Some will find the slow pace and the lack of character development frustrating. However, others won’t be able to put the book down because of the mystery and the interesting premise.

Sexual Content

  • Someone saw Rio’s sister kissing a boy. The person said, “I don’t want to speak for them. But yes, it did seem like there was something between them. Something real.”
  • True kissed Rio. “Right here under the trees, right here on my lips, and then on my neck, his fingers strong on my back, pulling me hard and close to him. . . He is good at this. I am good at this. We are good at this.”
  • Rio and True are on a gondola when “true’s lips brush against mine and I kiss him back. We hold each other tight. Earlier, under the trees, we were hungry and relieved to touch each other. We are still hungry.”
  • Rio and True kiss. “True’s lips skim my cheekbone and then he finds my mouth and I kiss him back, reaching to touch the beautiful planes on his face.”

Violence

  • Marie tells a story about two siren sisters who fought in the temple. Their voices killed some of the worshippers who, “fell with blood streaming from their ears and terror in their eyes.” Because of the sisters, the Counsel put the sirens under their governance. One of the sisters didn’t agree with the new rules and committed suicide by drowning, “herself in the wishing pool.”
  • Rio’s mother was killed by the Counsel. The members, “called her in for a meeting. When she arrived, they gave her something to drink, as was the custom, and they had each put some of the poison in her cup. They all did it.”
  • When a transport takes a group of sirens to the Above, they are killed. “Another siren starts to run. Before she’s taken more than a few steps, the people in the boats shoot her down too. . . She doesn’t even breathe, only bleeds.” The scene takes place over several days.
  • One of the leaders of the Above is killed. The murder is not described but Rio sees the body and the “wild hair and his poor, dead face. I put my hand on his chest, but I feel no rise and fall, no heartbeat.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • The gods gave Atlantia a miracle by sending sirens, people who can use their voice to control others. “There have never been two sirens from the same family line. We’ve always believed that the siren voice was a gift from the gods, not simple genetics. In order to be a minister, a person must show that they “cannot be swayed by sirens. They are chosen, in part, for their ability to resist.”
  • Marie, a siren, has the ability to communicate through a shell. She gives Rio a shell and tells her, “all you have to do is ask a question into that shell and then listen for the answer to come back to you.” Marie can also record voices into the shell, but the voice can only be used once.
  • Marie can, “hear voices from people who are gone. Who died hundreds of years ago. I hear voices in the walls of Atlantia, especially siren voices. They’ve been saved up, embedded in the walls.”
  • One of the characters can tell if a siren is telling a lie. “If I listen closely, I can hear something in their voices when they’re not telling the truth. It sounds like the wrong note in a song.”

Spiritual Content

  • Atlantia’s gods are the same gods as the ones above, but they take different shapes. When the people came to Atlantia, the leaders, “assigned land-animal faces and bodies to the gods for those of us who worship Below, and sea forms for those Above.”
  • The Atlantia religion was, “agreed upon by the sirens and the people together. They studied old histories. They learned about the gods. And then they shaped it all to fit the way their lives were. The Counsel took our religion to the Above, and the Above began to believe as well.”
  • The people of Atlantia are taught that those who live below have a “short life, illness, weakness, and misery. . . It is fair. It is as the gods decreed at the time of the Divide. Some have to stay Above so that humanity might survive Below. . . Thanks to the gods for the sea where we live, for the air we breathe, for our lives in the Below.”
  • Rio’s mother told her that, “some people say that the sirens are miracles, not people. . . Can you imagine believing such a thing? People can be miracles.”
  • Rio’s mother told her, “The gods know everything. . . They know how difficult this is. And they are pleased with you.”
  • Rio’s friend said, “I believe in them (the gods) so much that I don’t think they need statues everywhere to be powerful.”
  • When a portion of Atlantia has to be sealed off, many people die. Rio prayed, “and it’s not to Efram or any of the tiger gods, or any of the gods at all. It’s their faces I picture; it’s hers. My mother’s.” Later, Rio again prays to her mother and the gods.
  • Some people worship Rio’s mother and light candles for her.
  • Rio learns that “the temple, the gods, all of it, was a façade, a conceit. It was a way to make things more beautiful. . . No one thought of the gods as gods. They thought they were gargoyles. Decorations.” But later, the “people came to believe.” Later Rio wonders what it would be like to fashion your own gods.

The Last

Byx, a dairnes, has always been a part of her family and a part of her pack. She has always had the love of her parents and the guidance of her pack. One terrible day, Byx wanders off from her pack’s nest. When she returns, she discovers that soldiers have killed everyone. Now Byx is the last of the dairnes. The endling.

As the youngest and the smallest of her siblings, Byx doesn’t feel like she is capable of taking off on her own. But she has no choice. She’s alone. Byx sets off on an epic journey in search of a legendary island where other dairnes may live. In her search for the island, she must travel through a war-torn kingdom and flee from knights who want to kill her.

During her travels, she finds allies who join her. There’s Tobble, the worthy wobbyk, Khara, the girl of many disguises, Renzo, the honorable thief, and Gambler, the principled felivet. Their enemies will stop at nothing to kill Byx, the last of the dairnes. Will Byx’s allies be able to keep her alive?

Byx’s story comes to life as she tells her own story of heartbreak and hope. As Byx meets others, she feels incapable of leading because she was the runt, and she feels like she was “too young to be clever. Too small to be helpful.” Many readers will relate to Byx’s insecurities, but also her determination to keep working towards her goal. Even though Byx feels that “this hope of mine is ridiculous. And I’m a fool,” others choose to follow her because Byx believed in them first. Through Byx’s experiences the message is clear; it is never wrong to hope.

The interesting and compelling characters are one of the best parts of the story. Readers will fall in love with Tobble, who according to wobbyk code, must save Byx’s life three times. Even though Tobble is small, he’s determined, fiercely loyal, and willing to fight for others. Each character has their own reasons to help Byx, but through teamwork they overcome obstacles. Each character has unique talents, which allow them to help their friends.

The Endling highlights that all people are capable of being a hero or a villain. In the story, humans are portrayed as untrustworthy deceivers who are hungry for power. Humans “do not understand the balance of life. They do not understand their will to dominate and control, to use and abuse, is destructive to all.” Throughout the story, humans are shown in a negative light, and younger readers may be frightened by the deception and the violence in the story. Much like real life, the death in the story is disturbing and the scenes may remain with the reader for a long time.

From the very first page, Applegate creates captivating settings and fascinating characters readers will love. The fast-paced adventure shows that even those who feel unworthy can become leaders. The Endling is an epic story that will take readers to an imaginative world where good must fight evil in the hopes of saving the last of the dairnes.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • A group of humans begins shooting arrows at Byx, who jumps off a cliff and glides down to the sea. Byx is safe from the poachers, but they kill her pack. Byx hears the “howls and screams. Agony. Pain beyond words. Terror and despair.” She then sees her family “piled on the ground like discarded hides, blood pouring, white and pearly, soaking the leaves, eyes glassy and open, mouths open. Torn and stabbed.”
  • When Byx tries to run to her dead family, someone hits her with an arrow. “It wasn’t a killing arrow. It was an arrow meant for capture. . .” When Byx continues to struggle, the person hits her on the back of the neck, but she “felt it for only a second, maybe two, before I was lost in swirling darkness.” Later the person cleans Byx’s wound.
  • Byx thinks about her dead family and all that she saw. She “closed my eyes and heard the screams. I smelled the brackish blood, steel and iron, sword and armor. I saw a spear poking at the dead bodies, the pitiful dead piles of fur.”
  • A giant snake pins Byx to a tree. She “struggled, but with each movement the enormous snake coiled around me, tightening its hold. . . I tried to free my arms, but the strength of the huge serpent was infinitely greater than anything I could muster.” Byx’s friend Tobble tries to help. “He leapt to my defense, digging his teeth into the serpent that had pinned me, but suddenly the little wobbyk was snatched away, as if someone had him on a string.” Someone appears and chops the snake in half, and “the two pieces thudded to the ground. They writhed for a moment, then went still.” The scene takes place over four pages.
  • A group of soldiers discover Byx and her friends hiding. Gambler, a huge cat, “swiped at a careless constable, leaving bloody tracks down his sword arm.” As they try to escape, “a reckless raptidon constable came at him, talons at the ready. In one move, Gambler knocked him out of the sky and sent him in a tangled, bloody heap down to the ally below.” They are able to flee safely.
  • Khara talks about her great-grandfather, who was “given the treatment reserved for traitors. . . He was roasted over a slow fire for days, screaming in agony, before they finally cut off his head.”
  • When knights begin following Byx and his group, Gambler attacked the knights so his friends could escape. Gambler, “flew through the air, paws outstretched, and slammed full force into the knight. The knight toppled from his horse but was up in a heartbeat, reaching for his sword. Gambler leapt on the knight before he could draw. . .” The knight uses magic to shoot a spear, “from the end of the spear came a jet of flame.” The grass catches fire and the group ran for their life.
  • A soldier sees Byx, assumes he is a dog, and kicks him, “in my ribs with enough force to knock me over.”
  • When Byx’s group comes across a rat-like creature that spies, Gambler attacks it. “. . . Gambler ended the creature’s life with a bite that crushed its skull.”
  • A group of guards throw a net over Byx. His friends try to help. During the scene, Khara, “staggered from a savage blow from the hilt of a guardsman’s sword against the side of her head. Her eyes rolled up.” During the fight, Tobble “hurled himself with mad fury on the guardsman. . . dug his claws into the man’s ears, and began ripping at his nose. . . Blood flew everywhere.” The scene takes place over 6 pages.
  • When Khara accuses someone of treachery, the person “swung a backhand and hit the side of her face with a sharp report that seemed to echo off the walls.”
  • A knight suspends a boy above a fire. “The knight meant death to come slowly to his human prisoner.” Before the boy can be roasted, Byx and Gambler save him.
  • The knight attacks a group of guards. “Crossbow bolts few. One missed. One struck the Knight in his right thigh.” As the guard tries to escape, one of the men was “wreathed in flames.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • Byx and his friends go into an inn where, “two barmaids threaded through the crush of people, carrying pitchers of ale, mead, or cider.”

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • Byx is a dairne who can tell if someone is lying because she can “feel the falseness.” Byx explains that when she hears a lie, “there’s something missing, and you hear the wrongness of it. You feel it in your belly. . .”
  • Some of the characters know “theurgy” which is the “study of spells and incantations.”
  • A natite has a fishtail and is “vaguely human in shape. . . Green flesh covered its powerful shoulders and chest, and two huge, writhing tentacles rose from the creature’s shoulder blades.” In order to cross the sea, Khara must pay a “blood tax” that allows the natite to “pin down elements in it that identify a particular person. Somehow, by means we don’t understand, they can share this information instantly with every other natite in the world. Once they know who you are, if you cross the sea again, they will know you by some obscure natite sense . . . It’s like having your travel documents.”
  • One of the characters is a seer who has “magical runes and seals, the visible manifestation of powerful theurgic charms. It is said that she cannot be killed.”
  • Khara has a magical sword that conceals its true nature until it is drawn in anger.

Spiritual Content

  • Byx hears a voice and wonders, “Was it some echo of my mother’s voice? Did she still call to me from the land of dead?”
  • One of the characters sings a song about the beginning of the world. “In ancient times/When life was new, /The great ones met/At Urman’s yew. /Beneath the tree, / Beside the sea, / They planned the world /For you and me.”
  • Byx asks what a ‘knight of fire’ is. Someone replies, “Pray to your gods, dairne, that you do not find out the answer.”
  • When Gambler thinks he is about to die, he sings a song. He explains, “It’s a death song. Felivet who knows he is about to die sins his love to the moon and stars, our guides.” Gambler says that he will never end his own life because “we believe that a felivet who dies well in battle ascends to a great forest above the clouds. There we hunt endless prey and gather sometimes without others of our kind to tell of our great deeds in life.”
  • Byx and her group are looking for a moving island. Someone says that, “the sentient islands are gods to many. Others think they’re home to foul beasts and monsters. Still others believe that anyone who sets foot on the island will be eaten, consumed by the very trees.”
  • The Knight of Fire chases Byx and his group. In order to get rid of the knight, they make a trap. When the knight approached the group, “Khara, screaming, attacked the knight . . . The knight, unable to stab her, instead slammed the pommel into her face. Khara fell back, her nose spraying blood.” The knight, “tumbled into the stake-filled gully.” Byx hopes “never to see anything as awful as the sight of the fearsome Knight of the Fire and his charger, pierced through with sharpened sticks. The knight had died instantly. His horse, impaled by five spears, still lived, whinnying and kicking, but it was clearly doomed.”

 

Page

Kel survived her first year as a page, but her training is only increasing as she gets older. She still has her studies and combat training, riding, and etiquette lessons. But now that Lord Wyldon has discovered her fear of heights, he constantly gives her tasks that test her limits—such as climbing to the top of the palace wall and mapping the lands beyond. To her friends, Kel insists that Lord Wyldon is just training her to be a better knight, but secretly she wonders if he is trying to drive her to quit.

Meanwhile, Joren claims he wants to turn over a new leaf and be friends. Kel outwardly agrees, but worries Joren is merely becoming craftier. Still, she has little time to worry about what Joren and his friends are up to because she is horrified to discover that she is becoming a woman. First, her breasts begin to grow, and then she starts her monthlies. While Kel wants things to stay exactly how they were, at least one of her friends has begun to notice that Kel is a girl…

Page is a strong follow-up to the first Protector of the Small novel. The same enjoyable cast remains, with the interesting addition of new characters such as Kel’s maid Lalasa. Similar to the first book, Kel has to prove herself capable despite her perceived “weakness” of being a girl. One obstacle that Kel must overcome is her deep fear of heights. Even though she does not want to confront her fears, she proves that she has the strength to pursue her dream. As Kel progresses through her training, Page continues with the theme of behaving honorably, as a true knight should.

Readers will enjoy the advancement of Kel’s training and watching as her relationships with her friends grow and change. Kel’s maid Lalasa is a well-developed character that grows throughout the story. At first, Lalasa is timid because she has suffered great abuse from men. However, while she is in Kel’s service, Lalasa develops confidence and flourishes into a capable young lady. This story highlights the importance of friendship as well as the importance of perusing one’s dreams.

While this book covers the span of three years, where the first book covered only the span of one, the story does not feel rushed or lacking. Kel is a unique heroine who must fight against her own fears as well as discrimination. Both male and female readers will be drawn to Kel’s world and will come away with a positive message—with hard work and determination, dreams can come true.

Sexual Content

  • Garvey asks Kel’s friend, “So, Faleron, you’re friends with her now because you can have her whenever you want?” In retaliation, Neal says, “Joren is so pretty. Say, Garvey, are you two friends because you can have him?”
  • When thinking about self-defense, Kel remembers how, “Nariko had taught the court ladies, including Kel’s family, how to preserve their honor from rapists.”
  • Kel tells Neal, “What you said about Harvey and Joren—it’s not an insult in Yaman. Some men prefer other men. Some women prefer other women.” Neal replies, “In the Eastern Lands, people like that pursue their loves privately . . . Manly fellows like Joren think it’s a deadly insult to be accused on wanting other men.”
  • Kel is shocked to notice she is growing breasts. “Flabbergasted, Kel stared at the front of her nightgown. Sure enough, there were two slight bulges in the proper area for such a thing.”
  • Kel starts her period. “Blood was on her loincloth and inner thighs. She stared at it, thinking something dreadful was happening. Then she remembered several talks she’d had with her mother. This had to be her monthlies, the bleeding that told every girl she was ready to have babies if she wanted them.”
  • Kel’s mother tells her that she, “didn’t have much of a bosom until I got pregnant . . . your sister Patricine, though, she developed at twelve . . . Remember-you may be able to do so, but no one can force you to have babies. You do have a choice in these things. I’ll get you a charm to ward off pregnancy until you are ready for it.”
  • Owen asks Kel, “When did you turn into a real girl?” Kel replies, “I’ve been a girl for a while, Owen.” He then exclaims, “It’s not like you’ve got melons or anything, they’re just noticeable.”
  • When a man attacks her maid, Kel threatens to take him, “‘before the court of the Goddess . . . A man convicted of hurting women in the Goddess’s court faced harsh penalties; those for actual rape were the worst of all.”

Violence

  • Kel gets in a fight with a group of bullies. “Garvey came at Kel from the right, punching at her head. She slid away from his punch, grabbed his arm, pushed her right foot forward, and twisted to the left. Garvey went over her hip into Vinson, who’d attacked on her left. Joren, at the center, came in fast as his friends hit the wall. Kel blocked Joren’s punch to her middle, but his blow was a feint; his left fist caught her right eye squarely.”
  • The squires get in a fight when Neal insults Joren. “Garvey roared and charged, but Joren got to Neal first. Before they landed more than a punch each, Neal’s friends, including Kel, attacked them. More boys entered the brawl, kicking and hitting blindly, striking friend as often as foe. Kel nearly fainted when someone’s boot hit her bruised collarbone.”
  • Kel and her friends are attacked by a group of bandits. The fight takes place over the course of eleven pages. “The enemy coming at her raised a short, curved sword. She saw he would be unable to touch her until he was directly alongside. Kel dropped her extra spear out of her way, making sure she wouldn’t trip on it. She brought her other spear point-down by her right calf, holding it in the glaive position broom-sweeps-clean. The Hillman was almost on her, just five yards, now –She stepped forward, to the right of the charging raider, and brought the spear up in a firm, sweeping movement. The leaf-shaped blade, razor-sharp, cut deep into the man’s leg before Kel had to dodge the downward sweep of his sword. The man turned his horse and came back at Kel. This time she drove her spear through his belly, where it lodged.”
  • Kel fights off a man who attacked her maid. “Rather than shatter Vinson’s kneecap, she hit just above it, where the thigh muscle narrowed. He lurched, knocking Lalasa against the window frame, then let go. Lalasa scrambled back inside Kel’s room, tears streaming down her face.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • Adults sometimes drink a goblet of wine with dinner.

Language

  • Phrases such as Goddess bless and by the gods are used frequently as a part of Tortallian culture.
  • The word wench is used several times.

Supernatural

  • Kel lives in Tortall, a world filled with monsters and magic. The monsters include griffins, centaurs, and more. Some are good, some are not. Kel even has a basilisk for a teacher.
  • Several people at court have the Gift, which can be used for light, to heal, and more. One time, the king, “called a ball of light from the air so he could read.”

Spiritual Content

  • Tortall has many gods. They are named differently but are similar to the Greek gods. For example, Mithros is the god of the sun, and there is a god of death. The gods are mentioned often in the Tortallian culture, but are not an integral part of the plot.
  • Characters often pray before meals or battles. “We ask the guidance of Mithros in these uncertain times, when change threatens all that is time-honored and true. May the god’s light show us a path back to the virtues of our fathers and an end to uncertain times. We ask this of Mithros, god of the sun.”
  • When climbing a terrifyingly high tower, Kel thinks that “When I reach the Realms of the Dead . . . I’m going to find the genius who designed this tower and I’m going to kill him a second time. Horribly.”

by Morgan Lynn

 

A Dangerous Path

Times are rough in the forest, and all the Clans are wary of each other. With ShadowClan’s new and dangerous leader, Tigerstar, everyone in ThunderClan is on edge. None of the other Clans see anything wrong with Tigerstar’s leadership, but Fireheart knows better. Fireheart is convinced that the new leader will bring danger, and he has a feeling that something terrible is brewing. Dreams of danger haunt Fireheart, who worries that there is a connection between his foreboding dreams and Tigerstar’s rise to power.

There is also a strange evil loose in the forest, lurking in the shadows. When the leader of ThunderClan turns her back on StarClan, Fireheart is not sure what to believe. Should he trust in StarClan and his dreams to lead the Clan to safety? Has StarClan abandoned them?

The fifth installment of the Warrior Series has a slow pace that continues for the first half of the book.  Like the previous books, the cats hunt, go to meetings, and train apprentices. Although many aspects of the books are repetitious, the number of characters and the complexity of the plot may confuse some readers. The story continues to hint about a terrible danger, but the mystery behind the danger takes too long to solve. Still, once revealed, it creates a tense climax for the novel.

The story focuses on Bluestar, who has suffered a devastating loss and has become irrational as a result. Bluestar’s negativity gives the book a darker tone. Although the story is still a good adventure that allows readers to see into the cats’ world, A Dangerous Path has a more mature tone and adds themes of danger, death, and violence. The story covers some difficult topics such as Cloudkit’s skepticism regarding StarClan, and a cat willing to scheme to kill others. For those who have fallen in love with the Warrior series, A Dangerous Path sets up an epic battle that will take place in The Darkest Hour.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • Leopardstar and Bluestar fight over territory. Other cats join the fight. Leopardstar yowled and launched herself at Bluestar. “The two cats crashed to the ground, spitting and clawing. Fireheart sprang forward to help his leader, but before he reached her a warrior crashed into his side, bowling him over and sinking his teeth into Fireheart’s shoulder. Fireheart scrabbled against the RiverClan cat’s belly with his hindpaws, desperate to break his grip, and slashing at his enemy’s throat. The tabby warrior let go and backed off yowling.” Many cats are injured, but no one is killed. The fight takes place over six pages.
  • A group of cats was looking for two apprentices. When they find them, “Foul-tasting bile rose into his throat as he took in the scene in front of him. . . In the middle of the clearing Swiftpaw’s black-and-white body lay motionless, and just beyond him, Brightpaw. . . The apprentice lay on his side, his legs splayed out. His black-and-white fur was torn, and his body was covered with dreadful wounds, ripped by teeth far bigger that any cat’s. His jaws still snarled and his eyes glared. He was dead, and Fireheart could see that he had died fighting.”
  • Fireheart finds a dead cat, but it is not described.
  • Graypool’s “paws slid from under her. She rolled down the steep slope in a scramble of legs and tail, and landed hard against one of the rocks the pulled out of the turf. There she lay, and did not move again.”
  • While Snowkit was playing, there was a hawk. “The hawk plunged down toward the clearing. Snowkit screamed as the cruel talons fastened onto his back. The great wings flapped. . . As the hawk lifted off, she sprang upward and snagged her claws in the white kit’s fur. . . The hawk released the kit with one foot and scored its talons across Speckletail’s face. The she-cat lost her grip and fell back, landing heavily on the ground.”
  • Tigerstar attacks Fireheart, in the hopes that the dogs will catch up and kill him. “Fireheart struggled desperately to get free, lashing out with his hind paws to claw a tuft of fur from his enemy’s belly. . . The reek of his scent was in Fireheart’s mouth and nostrils, and his amber eyes glared into Fireheart’s own.” After Tigerstar let go of Fireheart, the dogs came. “Pain stabbed him as sharp teeth met his scruff. His limbs flailed helplessly as the dog lifted him from the ground and shook him from side to side. He twisted in the air, struggling to claw eyes, jowls, tongue, but his thrashing paws met nothing.” Bluestar knocks the dog off balance, saving Fireheart and sending the dogs and her into the gorge. Fireheart jumps in and tries to save her, but it is too late. He gets her to shore with the help of two RiverClan warriors, but Bluestar dies on shore.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • When angry, the cats occasionally call each other terms such as mouse dung, crowfood, furball, and mouse brain. For example, Bluestar got angry and said, “What a mouse-brained fool.”
  • Someone asked Fireheart, “Are you just going to stand there and let that piece of fox dung take over?”
  • Tigerstar asked a cat about some kits, and when she did not respond right away he snapped and said, “Tell me whose kits they were, old crowfood.”
  • When they started talking about StarClan, a cat said, “You don’t really believe that load of thistledown, do you?”
  • When he was falsely accused, Tigerstar said, “All this is a pile of mouse dung.”
  • When preparing to go into battle, a cat says, “They’ll make crowfood out of us!” This phrase is used twice.
  • Someone made a bad choice and a cat said, “What a mouse-brained idea!” This phrase is used three times.
  • Several time a cat is called a furball. For example, when the Clan was mad at someone, another cat said, “Then half of the Clan are stupid furballs.”

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • StarClan is the heavenly tribe of dead warrior cats that watches over all the cat clans. Cats that die go to StarClan and can come back in dreams to share visions or prophecy. StarClan can help shape fate because they can see the future.
  • One of the cats “is afraid she’ll go to StarClan soon.”
  • A cat died so it is said that, “she hunts with StarClan now.”
  • Cinderpelt received a dream from StarClan and tells Fireheart about it. She said she heard a huge animal walking saying, “Pack, Pack and Kill, Kill.”
  • Spottedleaf and Yellowfang are medicine cats that walk with StarClan. They visited Fireheart’s dreams to give him advice.
  • If a leader or medicine cat needs to speak with StarClan, they go to highstones. When they are there, they touch the moonstone at night and can share dreams with StarClan.
  • When the cats were fighting, a cat yelled, “Defend yourself or I swear by StarClan I’ll kill you.”
  • When a cat is made into a warrior, the leader says, “By the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior name.”
  • A cat believed she had made StarClan angry so she said, “I have brought down the wrath of StarClan on you.”

by Paige Michelle

The Collectors #1

Van notices things. He keeps his eyes open and finds all sorts of things that other people don’t notice. A marble in the grass. A tiny astronaut with one arm raised. But Van is small and most people don’t notice him.

One day, Van notices a girl and a silver squirrel stealing a coin from a fountain. But what’s even stranger is that the girl notices Van. When Van sees the silver squirrel stealing a birthday wish, Van decides to follow the squirrel and find the mysterious girl. What he finds instead is a dangerous place where wishes are real. He discovers that the Collectors steal wishes and put them away before they can come true. But soon, Van realizes that not all wishes are good, and some good wishes can have dangerous consequences.

Beautiful descriptions create an enchanting mythology around wishes. Van’s curiosity, powers of observation, and desire to do what is right lead him into a world of trouble. Van isn’t sure who to trust—Mr. Falborg who is friendly and seems kind or the Collectors who are shrouded in secrets. This conflict lasts until the end of the story and leads to an unexpected conclusion.

Van’s character is not only well developed, but he is also unique. He must use a hearing aid and often has difficulty communicating. Van struggles to understand people who don’t face him as they speak or when they speak too quickly. Throughout the story, Van has to work out what he thought someone said and translate it into what they most likely said. Having a main character with a hearing impairment allows readers to understand Van’s disability. At one point in the story, Van gets angry, asking, “Why does everybody think I want to hear the way THEY do!?” Van shows that he doesn’t need to be “fixed” and be like everyone else.

The Collectors explores the idea of power and unintended consequences. When it comes to Wish Eaters, “It’s not a matter of good or bad. It’s not about kindness or evil. It’s not even a matter of intentions. You can mean to do good and still do terrible things. . . If you give someone, anyone, too much power, enough power that they can control everyone around them—then you run a terrible risk.” The Collectors is a fantastic book that has magic, suspense, humor, and a talking squirrel that is obsessed with the smell of food.

This kid-friendly mystery is suspenseful, but not scary. At one point in the story, Van wonders if Wish Eaters are, “more dangerous than a bunch of guys who steal me out of my bed in the middle of the night and angle me over a bottomless pit?” Strong readers will want to pick up The Collectors to find out the answer.

Sexual Content

  • A boy thinks that Van’s mother and his father are “probably kissing.” When the boys go to spy on their parents, they discover that “Their hands were very close together, but their lips were several inches apart.”

Violence

  • When Van discovers where the Collectors conduct their business, a man threatens him. The man says, “Do not come back here. Do not mention anything about us, or about this place, to anyone. We will be watching you. . . And if we find out that you have spoken of us, you and anyone you’ve told will have to be . . . removed.”
  • Two dark-coated men kidnap Van. “Someone tugged a black cotton bag over Van’s head. Van felt the jostle of being lifted over the window. . . He tried to scream, but the bag seemed to trap the sound inside his own head. . .” Van is not injured.
  • Van’s mother is hit by a car. Van sees her “leg was bent at an impossible angle.”
  • Collectors try to capture a Wish Eater that “was larger than a city bus.” The monster charges at Van. “Van could hear its huffing, hungry breath. . . Cell doors rattled as it charged by.” The Collectors chase after the Wish Eater. “The beast spun. Its whipping tail knocked several people off their feet. Its teeth snapped at two others, catching and tossing them backwards.” The scene takes place over 4 pages. No one is injured.
  • Someone makes a wish that puts Van in an underground train tunnel. Van was, “standing on the tracks. He was deep, deep below the earth. There was not a platform in sight . . . There was no safe space to escape to, and no time to run.” Van is uninjured.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • God is used as an exclamation once.
  • Someone calls Van a moron.
  • Someone calls Van a “little idiot.”

Supernatural

  • The Collectors are a group of people who “see things normal people don’t see and hear things they don’t hear. We live longer than normal people can live. We don’t get born. We’re wished.”
  • The Collectors take people’s wishes and put them in bottles so that the wish can never come true. Pebble explains that people’s wishes shouldn’t come true because “Do you want to get trampled by dinosaurs? Do you want an eight-year-old boy to be king of the whole world? Do you want every food in the world to taste like chocolate ice cream?”
  • A wish is an unpredictable thing because “wishes are extraordinarily hard to control. And once a wish becomes a dead wish, once no limitations remain, once that wish is nothing but magical energy—it becomes an exceedingly powerful thing. It is pure chaos.”
  • Wish Eaters can be of various shapes and sizes. One Wish Eater was “a giant, roaring, rippling beast. It was shaped like a stretched-out crocodile, with a thrashing tail, a triangular head, and a long . . . long . . . impossibly long snout full of jagged, needle-sharp teeth.”
  • If a Wish Eater eats a wish, the wish comes true, if it is a “variable wish. A living wish. An authentic wish. A wish with its roots in the magic of millennia.”
  • When Van wishes to go somewhere unnoticed, a toy sleigh and reindeer come to life and grow. The sleigh “hung in the night air just outside his bedroom window, twinkling with a haze of pearly mist. It swelled and stretched until it was the size of an actual sleigh, and the plastic reindeer were as big as real reindeer, and the plastic Santa that turned its cheery smile towards Van was just the right size for a jolly old elf.” The sleigh takes Van to his destination.
  • Someone makes a wish that makes Van let Wish Eaters out of their cage. “Panic spread through Van’s chest. What was he doing? Why was he doing it? And how was he doing it without even trying? . . . Something was controlling him. Van realized it with a dizzying jolt. Something else was moving him . . .”

Spiritual Content

  • None

Into the Abyss

Gray and his alliance of shivers—Riptide, Coral, and AuzyAuzy—want peace. But Emperor Finnivus is determined to bring the entire ocean under his command. Even though Gray and his alliance defeated Finnivis’s armada once, the bloodthirsty emperor is determined to feast on the heads of every shark he conquers.

Despite a tragic loss, Gray must prepare his forces to defeat the emperor’s armada. With no one to tell Gray what to do, Gray must figure out a way to vanquish Finnivus and his evil forces. Gray and his friends are outnumbered by a superior force. The fate of the Big Blue depends on Gray leading his alliance to victory. Can Gray become the leader that his sharkkind need to defeat Finnivus’s evil?

The third installment of the Shark Wars series follows the same format as The Battle of Riptide. The majority of the story follows Gray and his alliance as they train to defeat Finnivus, and an epic battle ensues. Takiza appears less frequently, which allows Barkley to play a bigger role. Barkley must take his place as a leader, but he is frustrated because some of the other sharks don’t respect him. Instead, they insult his entire species. Barkley must use creative thinking to earn the respect of others. He learns, “If you want them to listen, you need to prove to them you’re listening too.”

The evil Finnivus becomes even more malicious. As his armada defeats other shivers, they capture pups and brainwash them into thinking Gray’s alliance is responsible for their parents’ deaths. During the battles, Finnivus uses the pups because he knows other shivers will be reluctant to hurt the younger sharks. Finnivus’s evil actions may upset some readers. Although the death count is high, the deaths are not described in a gory manner. However, the detailed deaths of some of the characters may disturb some readers.

Into the Abyss shows the difficulties of becoming a leader; however, by the end of the story Gray and Barkley both show admirable courage. As Gray tries to recruit orcas to help with the fight, he says, “What I know is that sometimes you have to swim out and be counted, no matter what. . . You’ve fooled yourselves into thinking that not taking a side is the best and fairest thing to do. . . By ignoring this evil, you join with it—because you allow it to happen.”

Readers who have read the previous books will enjoy following Gray and Barkley as they fight against evil. Although the story follows the same format as the previous series, the story still contains some surprises. Fluent readers will enjoy the comradery of the sharks as they join together to fight an epic battle, where good overcomes evil.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • Finnivus orders his armada to kill, “a pitiful force of prisoners. . . Moments after the command was shouted by Finnivus, it was over. Not a single one of the opposing hundred and fifty prisoners remained.”
  • Two mako shark assassins attack Gray. To defend himself, “Gray did a Bull Shark Rush at the closest shark, smashing him against a razor sharp coral wall. . .” Gray’s friends help defend him. One of the assassins, “had been speared by pointed rods of coral in three different places, including through the gills. . . The mako worked his jaws back and forth, close to death. He spit up a gob of blood as the light faded from his eyes.”
  • When a herald gives Finnivus bad news, the emperor eats her. “The emperor ripped off another piece of the royal herald who had the bad luck of having to deliver the message.”
  • Finnivus sends a group of pups to fight Gray’s armada. Lochlan leads the pups away and “the frenzied cluster of Indi pup mariners engulfed him. Lochlan winked at Gray. Then the AuzyAuzy King was swarmed by hundreds of sharks as the pups went into a feeding frenzy.” Gray wasn’t sure what to do, but, “time slowed as sharkkind died all around him, spiraling away to the Sparkle Blue.” Many sharks die before the end of the battle, which is described over eight pages.
  • Finnivus’s armada kills many of the Riptide scouts. “Finnivus ate one of the mangled prisoners immediately, not waiting for the royal seasoners to do their work.”
  • Takiza slaps Gray. “Takiza gave him another stinging slap on his snout. It was loud even in the heavy waters of the training field and made a crackling noise that echoed among the coral spires.”
  • Barkley and some of his friends capture an Indi pup, who is knocked out cold. When the pup comes to, he cries, “Don’t eat me alive! Send me to the Sparkle blue, but don’t eat me while I’m still alive!” Barkley is able to reunite the pup with a family member. Later, the pup tells Gray, “Finnivus told us about you! He said you were the ones who came and destroyed my home! You ate my mother and father—while they were still alive!”
  • Finnivus has urchins attack Whalem, who, “felt the acid drip from their bodies and howled.” Whalem dies.
  • An epic battle takes place over several days. During the battle, “Gray could see at least thirty or forty Indi sharkkind spiral downward in their death throes on the way to the Sparkle Blue.” During one of the fights, “the two armadas met with a howl and a crash, both sides ripping and tearing for their very lives. There were so many sharkkind whirling and twisting away in their death agonies that a constant cry of pain and anguish vibrated the waters all around them.” During this time, Finnivus kills his mariner prime. The battle takes place over three chapters.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • Valenka tries to poison Finnivus and his court.
  • Takiza gives Gray, “a large dose of maredsoo, the glowing deep-ocean energy greenie.”

Language

  • “Heck” is used once.
  • Finnivus calls someone a “dolt.”
  • Several times in the story a shark is called a “chowderhead” or other names like “jelly drifting flipper,” or “fat frill-face.”
  • When Gray hurts an octopus, the octopus calls him “a stupid jerk.”
  • Takiza insults Gray. “The betta basically called him an idiot in his wordy way.”
  • Barkley calls Gray a “fat lumpfish.”
  • Gray tells Takiza that he sounds like a “cranky shellhead.”
  • Whalem calls Finnivus an “idiot.”

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • Sharks that die go to the “Sparkle Blue.”
  • Takiza tells Gray to “pray to Tyro.”
  • A shark prays to Tyro asking him for help.
  • Takiza tells Gray about a prophecy. “He shall come from the depths of ocean prehistory. . . a megalodon will arise and win the unwinnable war.” Takiza believes the prophecy is about Gray, but he admits prophecies, “are irritatingly unclear. But the verse does seem to be speaking of someone remarkably like you, in an uncomfortably similar situation to the one we find ourselves in today.”
  • When Whalem is knocked out, he sees, “sparkling lights everywhere.” He also sees his friends who are swimming in the Sparkle Blue. One of his friends tells him that it’s not his time. Later, “the colorful lights returned. How everything sparkled! Then, Whalem was with his friends again, and he was happy.”

First Test

Keladry of Mindelan dreams of becoming a lady knight. A generation ago, that would not have been possible. But ten years ago, the King announced that ladies could try for their knighthood. In the decade since, no girl has dared to try. Until now.

Kel knows becoming a knight will not be easy. Years of hard training and study lie between Kel and her dream. But that’s not all. Kel did not know she would be placed on probation—something no boy has ever endured. And she did not realize how much resistance she would meet. Knights don’t think she is strong enough, her trainer does not think women should be knights, and the other trainees are determined to drive her away.

A delightful start to the Protector of the Small Quartet, First Test is a thoroughly enjoyable read. Kel is a brave and kind soul that readers will fall in love with. The other characters in this book are also refreshingly well-developed, from her training master and friends, to her enemies and even her horse. Protector of the Small is an enjoyable story filled to the brim with equal parts fun and excitement. It teaches readers how to be a true knight—how to be honorable, selfless, brave, and to always protect those who are weaker than yourself.

Kel wants to fight, but she’s not interested in glory. She wants to use her shield to protect those who can’t protect themselves. Unlike many female heroines, Kel doesn’t disguise herself as a boy or throw temper tantrums. Instead, she uses quiet determination and her intelligence to overcome obstacles. Kel’s story touches on themes of friendship, bravery, and shows the importance of not bullying others.

Several characters from the Song of the Lioness series appear throughout The Protector of the Small series, which will be a treat for fans of Alanna. However, readers do not have to read the Song of the Lioness series first in order to understand this series. Jump into a medieval world where fantasy and action combine to create a girl-centered adventure that will keep readers turning the pages until the very end.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • Kel survived a pirate attack when she was a girl. “The lady tumbled to the ground. Kel slid out the door on her belly. Turning, too startled to cry, she saw the lady at her mother’s feet. There was an arrow in the Yamani woman’s back.”
  • Kel fights with a group of boys when they try to drown a bag of kittens. No one is seriously injured. “Another lad grabbed a branch and swung at her; she blocked it with hers, then rammed the length of wood into his stomach. He doubled over, gasping.”
  • Kel tries to rescue a bag of kittens from a spidren that wants to eat them. The spidren bites a kitten in half, then comes after Kel. Kel freezes in terror, and she does not see when soldiers kill the spidren.
  • Kel fights a group of bullies several times. “Gripping Zahir’s index finger, Kel jammed her thumbnail into the base of Zahir’s own nail . . . He yelped and let go. Joren lunged for her. She stepped back, ducking under Zahir’s frantic punch . . . She grabbed Joren’s tunic and turned, kneeling as she did. He went flying over her shoulder.”
  • The pages say that “a page failed the examinations about six years ago and jumped off the Needle.”
  • The pages go on a spidren hunt with a group of knights. The spidren took a woman, and the knights say they have to find the spidrens because, “Often they bite off a victim’s limb, then slap a web on it, to keep them from dying of blood loss. The woman they took may yet live.”
  • The pages fight when the knights find the spidrens. “The weapon’s slim razor point sliced through the spidren’s chest and arm, releasing a spray of dark blood. Kel reversed the spear and cut back, dragging the blade down. It bit into the spidren at the neck and stuck there as crossbow bolts riddled the immortal.”
  • After the battle, soldiers rolled, “a barrel of blazebalm into the [spidren’s] nest. A mage whispered, and the blazebalm roared into flames. Hearing the young shriek as they burned, Kel found it was her turn to vomit.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • Adults sometimes drink wine with their meals.

Language

  • Phrases such as Goddess bless are used frequently as a part of Tortallian culture. One time, Alanna thinks, “Goddess bless . . . How will I ever get on with him if I’m to help this girl Keladry?” Another time, Neal asks Kel, “Why in the name of all the gods in all the Eastern and Southern Lands would you start a fight with them?”

Supernatural

  • Kel lives in Tortall, a world filled with monsters and magic. The monsters include griffins, centaurs, and more. Some are good, some are not. Kel even has a basilisk for a teacher. “The creature was fully seven feet tall, not counting the long tail it used to balance itself, and it was viewing her with fascination. Its large gray slit-pupiled eyes regarded her over a short, lipless muzzle.”
  • Several people, called mages, have the ability to use magic and some can heal with magic. Kel’s friend Neal is one of them. “Neal rested her foot on his hands and bowed his head. A soft light of such a deep green as to be nearly black shimmered between his palms and Kel’s flesh . . . The pounding in her foot began to soften until it had ceased. Her toes shrank back to their normal size as she watched.”
  • “A mage was briefly granted the power to raise the dead last year.” One of the things he brought back to life was, “a kind of living skeleton, a creature of bone and air. It had flown to perch on her, yet its wings were empty, slender fans made of very long finger bones.”

Spiritual Content

  • Tortall has many gods. They are named similarly to the Greek gods. For example, Mithros is the god of the sun, and there is a god of death. The gods are mentioned often in the Tortallian culture but are not an integral part of the plot.
  • Characters often pray before meals or battles. “We ask the guidance of Mithros in these uncertain times, when change threatens all that is time-honored and true. May the god’s light show us a path back to the virtues of our fathers and an end to uncertain times. We ask this of Mithros, god of the sun.”
  • While visiting a foreign land, Kel hears about their sacred relics. “They are the swords given to the children of the fire goddess, Yama . . . The short sword is the sword of law. Without it, we are only animals. The long sword is the sword of duty. It is the terrible sword, the killing sword.”

by Morgan Lynn

 

 

 

Louisiana’s Way Home

Granny thinks the day of reckoning has arrived. In the middle of the night, Granny wakes up Louisiana, telling her they must leave immediately. Granny often had ideas in the middle of the night, so Louisiana thinks that they will return home soon. But this time, Granny crosses the Georgia border and drives into Florida.

Now Louisiana is living in a hotel room with her sick Granny. Louisiana doesn’t want to be separated from her best friends or her pet. She wants to find her way home. But soon, Louisiana begins making friends. She meets a boy with a crow that sits on his shoulder, a kind minister, and a grumpy hotel owner. As Louisiana tries to navigate a new town, she wonders if “the curse of sundering” will determine her fate? Will Louisiana always be forced to leave those she loves?

Louisiana’s story “is a long and tragic story full of dark alleys and twists and turns and many unexpected happenings. . . And also curses. There are curses in the story.” Louisiana’s Way Home is told from Louisiana’s point of view, which allows the reader to understand Louisiana’s thoughts and emotions. Louisiana is a spunky, irresistible character who struggles to understand her well-meaning, but unstable Granny.

Throughout the story, Dicamillo expertly crafts an array of characters who are both realistic and interesting. Some adults are so jaded by their own experience that they have lost all compassion, and others who are willing to open their doors to a lonely, lost child. However, the most fascinating character is Burke; he is “the kind of person who, if you asked him for one of something, gave you two instead.”

Louisiana’s Way Home is realistic fiction that touches on themes of friendship, family, love, and forgiveness. The story also shows the importance of attending school. When Burke skips school, his mother tells him, “After a time, it will catch up with you, and you will find that life has closed its doors to you. . . Open doors. That is what we want—doors that are open to us.”

Even though Louisiana’s Way Home uses simple sentences, the word choice may make the story difficult to read. For example, the author uses words such as inopportune, ascertained, irrelevant, and juncture. At the beginning of the story, Louisiana talks about a “curse of sundering” that has affected her family; however, the meaning of the word sundering isn’t discussed until much further in the book, which may cause some readers to be confused about the curse.

Even though Louisiana was introduced to readers in Raymie Nightingale, readers do not need to read the story to understand and enjoy Louisiana’s Way Home. As Louisiana navigates difficult situations, she learns that “We all, at some point, have to decide who we want to be in this world. It is a decision we make for ourselves.” As Louisiana tries to figure out who she wants to be, readers will be engrossed in her heartwarming story.

 Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • None

Drugs and Alcohol

  • After having all of her teeth removed, the grandmother is given antibiotics and painkillers.

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • According to Louisiana’s grandmother, there is a curse of sundering on the family. The curse began when “My great-grandfather sawed my great-grandmother in half, and then he walked away. He left my great-grandmother on the stage. Sawed in two. . . Someone else put her back together. . . and the two of them ran away together and my granny was left entirely alone.”

Spiritual Content

  • Louisiana thinks, “Granny didn’t believe in heaven. But that didn’t mean I had to not believe, did it?”

Trapped

When the snow started falling, students were excited to be released from school early. Scotty and his friends Pete and Jason are among the last seven kids at their high school waiting to get picked up. But as the snow continues to fall, they realize that no one is coming for them. The boys aren’t too upset about staying the night at the school, especially because there are two pretty girls who are stuck with them.

At first, being trapped in the school doesn’t seem so terrible. After all, they are safe from the snow, and there’s enough food to feed 400 students for a week. But then the power goes out, then the heat, and then the pipes freeze. The students watch as the snow continues to fall. As the days pass, the snow inches higher and higher. Suddenly, the roof shudders and begins to cave in. How will they survive in a freezing school that is in danger of crushing them? Should someone set out for help?

Told from Scotty’s point of view, the story uses a matter-of-fact tone to discuss the disastrous blizzard. Although Scotty is clearly worried about the snow, he also worries about typical teen issues—missing basketball, talking to a pretty girl, getting rid of a big zit, and keeping the peace. Readers will be drawn into the suspenseful story not only because of the impending disaster, but also because Scotty is a relatable teen.

Scotty is trapped in the school with several people that he considers stereotypical teens. He thinks that one boy is a trouble maker and the other is an emotionally disturbed goth. However, when Scotty is forced to spend time with the two boys, he realizes that his perception of them was incorrect.

The ending is abrupt, and although the reader learns what happens to many of the characters, the conclusion does not answer all of the questions about who lives or dies. The story will make readers question why the characters withheld information that may have led to the death of another. The quick read will leave readers wondering what they would do in a similar situation. Trapped is an engaging story that both reluctant and strong readers will enjoy.

Sexual Content

  • A boy said that he was going to go to the dance “‘cause I’m going to get me some.” The boy was planning on going to the dance with a girl with whom he had, “gotten his hands up her shirt just last week.”
  • Scotty thinks that his friend snuck off to make out with a girl. “It just kind of bothered me that he didn’t feel like he couldn’t tell his friends about it.”
  • When Scotty is alone with a girl, he thinks about “making a move, try to kiss her.”

Violence

  • After a misunderstanding with a girl, Pete hits Les. Pete “took the first swing, which I guess is how he landed it. Then Les had just dismantled him. He hurt practically every part of him. . . Pete was lying on his side on the floor, holding his hand up to his nose or high right eye or maybe both.” Pete is not seriously hurt.
  • A boy flips a snow-kart and the cart lands on him, killing him. Scotty finds his body. “I saw it all: the soft horrible blue that had crept into his face, the way his hands were frozen stiff, like the curled talons of a bird.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • A boy talks about a blizzard that happened in the ’60s. Scotty said the blizzard probably lasted a day. “Those people were stoned.”

Language

  • Profanity is used occasionally. Profanity includes crap, piss, frickin’.
  • When the electricity went out, kids were upset, and there were “F-bombs going off like fireworks.”
  • A group of boys plans on working on a “crappy go-kart.”
  • Someone calls a boy a jerk. Later someone calls a boy a moron.
  • “Screw you” is used several times.

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • When a girl stops two boys from fighting, someone thinks, “Thank God there are girls around.”
  • After being stuck in the school for several days, Scotty prays. “I prayed for myself. I prayed for my mom. I prayed for all of us. . . I just curled up tight in the scratchy wool and whispered.” Soon, his friend Jason joins in the prayer. Scotty thinks, “It was probably the ten-thousandth time I’d heard Jason say ‘Jesus,’ but it was the first time I’d heard him mean it.”
  • Scotty and several others pray. Someone calls them “Bible thumpers.” When Scotty prays, he decided to pray to “the archangel Gabriel. He’s the one with the trumpet, the one that made the announcement.”
  • Scotty “prayed to Gabriel again. I figured God and Jesus were hearing from a lot of people at this time of night. But who else was praying to the less glamorous of the two archangels. . . I prayed for him to keep my mom safe instead, though if I’m being honest, I was sort of hoping he’d be impressed by my selflessness. . . I’m pretty sure they (angels) don’t fall for dumb tricks like that.”

Rising Storm

Fireheart’s enemy, Tigerclaw, has been exiled from ThunderClan. Even with him gone, the clan is still shaken. Because Fireheart is now the deputy, he has to hold the entire Clan together. No matter how he tries to forget Tigerclaw, he cannot shake the feeling that he is still out there, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. With his apprentice acting up and breaking the code, a major sickness in ShadowClan, and Bluestar on the edge, Fireheart struggles to keep the Clan together.

Along with attacks from different Clans and rouges, ThunderClan is at risk. Bluestar is getting weaker, and with the recent betrayal of Tigerclaw, everyone is worried about her. She is a shell of her former self and is haunted by sinister omens. Everyone knows that a storm is coming. Will Fireheart be able to unite his clan?

Rising Storm picks up immediately after the last book, which is a time of great fear for ThunderClan. The tone of this book is darker, full of suspense and dread of the unknown. Readers will enjoy seeing Fireheart grow into a capable leader and will be anxious to see if Bluestar can regain her confidence, or if she will continue to spiral. One of the best aspects of this book is the constant action, as it’s full of battles, cliffhangers, and plot twists. The ending will leave readers shocked, so make sure you have the next book ready! The drama will continue in The Dangerous Path.

 Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • The WindClan cats fight Fireheart and his friends. “Deadfoot leapt from the badger set onto his back, he rolled with him, falling to the ground and throwing the WindClan deputy off . . . He pushed back down with his hindlegs and flung himself at Deadfoot. The WindClan tom gasped as Fireheart knocked the breath from him.”
  • Fireheart is attacked by dogs. “With a vicious snarl, the dog lunged at him. Fireheart whipped around and lashed out with his forepaws, his claws sharp as blackthorns. He felt the flesh rip on the dog’s swaying jowls and heard it yelp in pain.”
  • Fireheart attacks Whitethroat because he thinks that Whitethroat killed his friend. “He let out a furious screech and flung himself at Whitethroat, who shrank away, hissing. Fireheart knocked the ShadowClan warrior back, and Whitethroat landed limply on the ground.”
  • Fireheart and Tigerclaw got into a fight. “Tigerclaw’s eyes widened with surprise as Fireheart crashed into him, claws unsheathed and hissing with rage . . . Fireheart felt himself being flung from Tigerclaw’s back, felt the impact of the parched ground as he landed on his side. He gasped for the air that had been knocked from his lungs and struggled to his paws. He wasn’t fast enough. Tigerclaw pounced on him, pinning him to the ground with claws that seemed to pierce Fireheart to the bone . . . In desperation Fireheart pushed us with his hind legs, his claws raking for a hold on Tigerclaw’s belly . . . The gray warrior lunged at Tigerclaw’s exposed belly, knocking him backward. Fireheart whipped around and bit the shoulder of the cat that clung to his hindleg until he felt his teeth scrape against bone. He released the rogue when he squealed, and spat out the blood that had dripped into his mouth.” The fight goes on for three pages.
  • After the fire, Fireheart and Graystripe look for the cats that were left behind. They find a dead cat and see, “where Halftail’s scorched body lay at what used to be the entrance to Yellowfang’s fern tunnel.”
  • When Fireheart found Yellowfang, “She lay with her legs crumpled beneath her, soot-covered and wheezing, too weak to move. She could barely hold his gaze, and when she spoke her voice was breathless and feeble.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • When angry, the cats occasionally call each other terms such as mouse dung, crowfood, furball, and mouse brain. For example, Bluestar got angry and said, “What a mouse-brained fool.”

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • StarClan is the heavenly tribe of dead warrior cats that watches over all the cat clans. Cats that die go to StarClan and can come back in dreams to share visions or prophecy.
  • When a cat dies, they go to StarClan. StarClan guides and helps the cats through dreams and prophecies. StarClan can help shape fate because they can see the future.
  • Bluestar said that StarClan had summoned her and that she had to go to answer the call. Bluestar went to the Moonstone in order to speak with StarClan, their warrior ancestors.
  • When the cats were discussing something, someone said, “Only StarClan knows.”
  • When they were joking around, Cinderpelt said, “May StarClan banish all the fleas from your nest.”
  • When something big happened, a cat said, “Perhaps it was what StarClan intended.”
  • When Fireheart dreamed, Spottedleaf, the dead medicine cat, came and said, “Beware an enemy that seems to sleep.”
  • When they were arguing Cinderpelt said, “What in StarClan is worrying you?”
  • A cat said, “Perhaps StarClan has a different destiny for him.”
  • Spottedleaf came to Fireheart’s dream and warned him about the fire.
  • Smallear got mad and said, “I told you StarClan would show its anger!”
  • When raining started falling after a fire, Fireheart interpreted it as, “StarClan was weeping for all that had been lost.”
  • As Yellowfang was dying, she said, “StarClan may judge me how they will.”
  • Because Patchpelt and Halftail died, Fireheart said they, “are with StarClan now.”
  • When Fireheart told Runningnose that Yellowfang died, he said, “She died trying to save a Clanmate from the fire. StarClan will honor her bravery.”

by Paige Michelle

The Portal

Rose lives an ordinary life with her mother. She loves her friends and has a fashion blog, which has a lot of hits. Everything changes when Rose’s mom is killed in an auto accident. Rose is sent to live with a grandmother she barely knows. To make life worse, a group of mean girls makes fun of Rose’s fashion-forward looks. Now Rose must deal with being the target of bullying as well as trying to understand her grandmother’s dementia.

Rose finds peace in her grandmother’s greenhouse. One night, a strange glowing light appears in the greenhouse. When Rose goes to investigate, she is thrown five hundred years into the past. Rose is now the servant of Elizabeth, the daughter of King Henry VIII. When Rose finds a locket with two mysterious pictures in it, she begins to wonder about her own past. Can the locket reveal mysteries about her parents?

Rose goes back and forth between the present and the past. Although many connections are made between the two time periods, some readers may not like the jumpy nature of the story. As Rose goes into the past, the reader learns fun facts about the time period as well as gets a peek into the dynamics of the royal family. Rose’s love of fashion is integrated into the story, and Rose includes pictures of the time period’s clothing and shoes as part of her blog. In both time periods, the author’s theme is clear: all people should be treated with respect and kindness.

Readers will be able to relate to Rose, who is not portrayed as a perfect character. Rose struggles with fitting in, and even though she recognizes that people should be treated with kindness, she doesn’t always show kindness herself. However, Rose is lovable because of her curious nature and her willingness to stick up for others.

Even though The Portal doesn’t explain the magic of time travel well, readers will still find the fast-paced story enjoyable. The conclusion feels a little rushed, and not all of the pieces fit well together. Despite this, The Portal is an entertaining read that has a dash of historical facts. Younger readers who enjoy time travel stories with strong female characters may also want to read The League of Archers and Ruby Red Trilogy.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • Mean girls push Rose into her locker and then shut it. Rose felt a shove and then “her head banged against metal; then there was a slam. Complete darkness.”
  • When Rose goes back in time, she meets Princess Elizabeth, whose father was King Henry the Eighth. The King, “chopped off her mother’s head.” Later in the story, one of the characters thinks about the King’s dead wives. “People didn’t talk about witches, not since the king had chopped off his wife’s head, Queen Anne. But that was four wives ago. Of course, after Anne, the second head to roll was Catherine Howard’s a few years ago, but she wasn’t considered a witch, just a wanton seductress.”
  • While ice skating, a mean girl intentionally runs into another girl, making her fall.
  • A group of mean girls chase Rose and throw things at her. Rose “heard the girls closing the distance and shoved an empty trash can that clanked down the alley towards them. . . She heard someone take a hard fall and gasp as if the air had been knocked out of her.” Rose’s cat, “sailed over her head, her claws spread in attack mode.”
  • While back in time, a group chases a “fool” and throws eggs at her. When Rose talks to the girl, she says, “But I’m a fool. Fools are born to be teased.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • A mean girl spreads a rumor about a teacher. The girl “claimed Ms. Elfenbach was drunk or something when she graded a test last year. She started a rumor that she was an alcoholic.”
  • Rose’s father wants to talk to her, but wants to wait “until evening, when most of the people were well into their cups and might not notice if he carefully approached her.”

Language

  • Good Lord, oh my God, Oh God, and OMG are infrequently used as an exclamation. For example, Rose thinks, “OMG, I’d die for those shoes!”
  • Darn is said a few times.
  • When Rose goes back in time, she calls someone a “jerk.” Others pick up the term and occasionally use it.
  • One of Rose’s friends says that a mean girl was “going to have (her dad) sue me for libel when I called her a jerk. . . The funny thing is, her dad is kind of a jerk.”
  • Someone calls a boy a “sack of pig droppings.”

Supernatural

  • Rose has a gene that allows her to time travel. The magic of time travel is not explained, and Rose does not understand what causes her to go back in time. When Rose goes back to the future, those in the past are not aware of her absence.

Spiritual Content

  • When someone uses the phrase “God’s kneecaps,” Rose thinks it is “the most fun swear ever. . . She pictured God sitting on a throne of cumulus clouds. His flowing celestial garments hiked up a bit, exposing knobby old knees crowning skinny, slightly hairy legs. Maybe God would be groaning a bit— ‘Oh, lamentations! My arthritis is kicking up again!’”
  • Princess Mary is, “very religious. She spends a lot of time in the chapel.” The fact that her father was a protestant and she was Catholic is discussed. Rose remembers reading that Mary was “England’s most horrific monarch. . . Her passion for God and burning Protestants had earned her the name.”
  • Princess Mary flogs “a servant whom she suspected of heresy. Dressed in fine gowns but with bare knees, she (Princess Mary) would crawl on stone to offer her prayers to the Virgin Mary. She was so proud of those knees if they were bloodied by the end of the ritual. It was rumored that she beat herself on Good Friday in penitence for Christ’s crucifixion.”
  • Princess Elizabeth says that “A king or a queen can’t be wrong. Nor can a princess who might someday become queen. It’s their divine right.” They are not God, but they are “given that right by God.”
  • A character prays to God.
  • When the king dies, the “servant mourners” had to “fall to their knees and pray for the soul of their king.”
  • A servant tells Rose, “The court regards people like myself as a curious little aberration that was created by God for the sole entertainment of royalty and court.”

 

 

 

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

The ministry has fallen to He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, who is the new Minister of Magic in all but name. Wizards and witches across the nation whisper, too frightened to fight, unsure of who to trust. And elsewhere, the Hogwarts Express is on its way to school without three of its students – Harry, Ron, and Hermione.

Rather than return to school, the three friends set off on a quest to find He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named’s horcruxes—and destroy them. Only then can He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named be stripped of his immortality and defeated. But seemingly insurmountable obstacles pile up, leaving the trio of friends scared, confused, and frustrated with the world and with each other. Near-death experiences abound in the most harrowing, adventured-packed book of the series. While the first half of the story may drag for some readers, the payoff is spectacular and the novel ends in a whirlwind of revelations.

This epic conclusion to the Harry Potter series satiates readers with a deluge of their favorite characters from all seven books, woven together in a realistic and nostalgic masterpiece. With plenty of twists and turns, readers will be reeling by the time they finish and sad that this marvelous adventure has finally come to an ending that is heartbreaking and joyful at the same time.

Sexual Content

  • Ginny kisses Harry on his birthday. “Then she was kissing him as she had never kissed him before, and Harry was kissing her back, and it was blissful oblivion, better than firewhisky; she was the only real thing in the world, Ginny, the feel of her, one hand at her back and one in her long, sweet-smelling hair.”
  • Auntie Muriel comments that “Ginevra’s dress is far too low cut.”
  • In a hallucination, Harry and Hermione kiss. “Riddle-Hermione . . . stretched like a snake and entwined herself around Riddle-Harry, wrapping him in a close embrace: Their lips met.”
  • Ron and Hermione kiss. “Running at Ron, she flung them around his neck and kissed him full on the mouth. Ron threw away the fangs and broomstick he was holding and responded with such enthusiasm that he lifted Hermione off her feet.”

Violence

  • He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named kills a witch. “The flash of green light illuminated every corner of the room. Charity fell, with a resounding crash, onto the table below.”
  • Harry and Hagrid are chased by Death Eaters. The fight takes place over eight pages. “As he looked back again two jets of green light flew past his left ear: Four Death Eaters had broken away from the circle and were pursuing them, aiming for Hagrid’s broad back.”
  • George loses an ear. Harry isn’t there during the fight, but afterwards he sees, “George, who was unconscious and whose face was covered in blood . . . Harry’s stomach lurched: One of George’s ears was missing. The side of his head and neck were drenched in wet, shockingly scarlet blood.”
  • The Order of the Phoenix raises a toast to a dead comrade. “The firewhisky seared Harry’s throat. It seemed to burn feeling back into him, dispelling the numbness and sense of unreality, firing him with something that was like courage.”
  • During a heated argument, “Scrimgeour limped toward Harry and jabbed him hard in the chest with the point of his wand: It singed a hole in Harry’s T-shirt like a lit cigarette.”
  • Kreacher has to punish himself when he misbehaves. “The elf was already punishing himself: He fell to the ground and banged his forehead on the floor.”
  • Kreacher hits Mundungus “over the head with a saucepan.”
  • When escaping from the Ministry of Magic, Harry “raised an enormous fist and punched him, sending him flying through the air.”
  • Ron accidently splinches himself. “Hermione laid bare Ron’s upper arm, where a great chunk of flesh was missing, scooped cleanly away as though by a knife.”
  • A snake disguises itself as a woman. “She moved weirdly: He saw it out of the corner of his eye; panic made him turn and horror paralyzed him as he saw the old body collapsing and the great snake pouring from the place where her neck had been.” There is a fight that takes place over three pages. “There was a loud bang and a flash of red light, and the snake flew into the air, smacking Harry hard in the face as it went.”
  • After Ron runs away, “Hermione launched herself forward and started punching every inch of him that she could reach.”
  • Hermione is tortured. It is not shown, but Harry heard. “Hermione’s screams echoed off the walls upstairs.”
  • Wormtail tries to kill Harry. “Wormtail’s wand emitted sparks; his silver hand closed around Harry’s throat . . . Wandless, helpless, Pettigrew’s pupils dilated in terror. His eyes had slid from Harry’s face to something else. His own silver fingers were moving inexorably toward his own throat . . . Harry tried to pull the crusting metal fingers from around Wormtails’s throat, but it was no use. Pettigrew was turning blue . . . he gave a last twitch, and was still.”
  • He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named kills several people in a fit of rage. “Green light erupted through the room; the kneeling goblin rolled over, dead; the watching wizards scattered . . . again and again his wand fell, and those who were left were slain, all of them.”
  • Dobby is stabbed. “Harry looked down at the silver hilt of the knife protruding from the elf’s heaving chest.”
  • Harry uses an Unforgivable Curse. “The Death Eater was lifted off his feet. He writhed through the air like a drowning man, thrashing and howling in pain, and then, with a crunch and a shattering of glass, he smashed into the front of a bookcase and crumpled, insensible, to the floor.”
  • Professor McGonagall duels Snape. “She brandished her wand at a torch on the wall and it flew out of its bracket . . . the descending flames . . . became a ring of fire that filled the corridor and flew like a lasso at Snape – Then it was no longer fire, but a great black serpent that McGonagall blasted to smoke, which re-formed and solidified in seconds to become a swarm of pursuing daggers.”
  • The final battle at the end of the book spans five chapters, with a few calmer scenes in between. Several people die. At one point, “The world was rent apart. Harry felt himself flying through the air . . . He heard the screams and yells of his companions without a hope of knowing what had happened to them – And then the world resolved itself into pain and semidarkness: He was half buried in the wreckage of a corridor that had been subjected to a terrible attack . . . and Fred’s eyes stared without seeing, the ghost of his last laugh still etched upon his face.” Later on, “The house-elves of Hogwarts swarmed into the entrance hall, screaming and waving carving knives and cleavers . . . Harry saw Yaxley slammed to the floor by George and Lee Jordan, saw Dolohov fall with a scream at Flitwick’s hands, saw Walden Macnair thrown across the room by Hagrid, hit the stone wall opposite, and slide unconscious to the ground.”
  • He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named kills Snape. “The snake’s fangs pierced his neck . . . his knees gave way and he fell to the floor . . . [Snape] fell sideways onto the floor, blood gushing from the wounds in his neck.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • The adults often drink a glass of wine or brandy, either with dinner or during meetings.
  • After a fight, Hagrid asks if Mrs. Weasley has brandy “Fer medicinal purposes.”
  • Fred reminisces about an uncle. “Before he went loopy he was the life and soul of the party . . . He used to down an entire bottle of firewhisky, then run onto the dance floor, hoist up his robes, and start pulling bunches of flowers out of his –”
  • Champagne is served at a wedding.
  • Hermione gets catcalled by “a group of men . . . singing and weaving across the pavement.” They tell her to “ditch ginger and come and have a pint!”

Language

  • God is used as an exclamation once. Ron says “God, that’s revolting.”
  • Ron uses the word git several times.
  • Damn and hell are used a few times. Harry says, “Let’s get rid of the damn thing.”
  • Ron tells Malfoy, “That’s the second time we’ve saved your life tonight, you two-faced bastard!”
  • Neville tells He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, “I’ll join you when hell freezes over.”
  • When Bellatrix almost kills Ginny, Mrs. Weasley shouts, “NOT MY DAUGHTER, YOU BITCH!”

Supernatural

  • Harry Potter is a wizard and lives in a world full of magic. He went to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, where he studied charms, potions, and defense against the dark arts. He is fighting a dark wizard who split his soul into seven pieces in order to become immortal. He works together with dragons and goblins in order to save the wizarding world from dementors and violent giants. In short, Harry is surrounded by magic and supernatural occurrences every day of his life. As such, not all instances are listed here.
  • Although the series revolves around magic, the story does not encourage children to try magic on their own. To cast a spell, wizards simply say a word and wave their wand. For example, saying luminos casts light.
  • Professor Trelawney made a prophecy about the Dark Lord before Harry was born. She does not remember making the prophecy afterward, but it is stored in a secret Hall of Prophecies hidden in the Ministry of Magic.
  • Harry can see flashes of what He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is thinking and seeing, which causes his scar to burn.

Spiritual Content

  • There are ghosts in the castle that behave like regular (although transparent) people. One of Harry’s teachers is even a ghost.
  • He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named splits his soul and hides pieces of his soul in precious, hidden objects. His goal is to become immortal and unkillable. If he is killed, the pieces of his soul remain, and therefore he cannot truly die.
  • When visiting his parents’ gravestone, Harry asks about the inscription, “The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.” Hermione says, “It means . . . you know . . . living beyond death. Living after death.”
  • When He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named tries to kill him, Harry has an out-of-body experience, a vision of being in a train station. He speaks to Dumbledore who tells Harry that he can go back and continue to fight, or he can board a train. Harry asks, “‘Where would it take me?’ ‘On,’ said Dumbledore simply.”

by Morgan Lynn

Forest of Secrets

Tigerclaw has become clan deputy, but Fireheart distrusts him more than ever. Suspicious circumstances surround the death of the former deputy, Redtail. Fireheart wonders if Redtail was really killed by an opposing clan or if Tigerclaw somehow killed him. Fireheart’s quest to investigate Redtail’s death might teach him that some secrets are better hidden.

Meanwhile, a food scarcity causes stress to build between the clans. With tensions high between all four clans, allegiance begins to shifts, leaving Fireheart wondering who he can trust. Even his best friend seems to be hiding secrets. Are there hidden threats that Fireheart knows nothing about? Is his own clan’s deputy working against him?

Hunter continues the beloved Warrior saga, picking up after the battle with ShadowClan and RiverClan. The clans still aren’t on friendly terms, which adds to the suspense. To help readers keep track of the changing allegiances and many characters, the book has a chart of allegiance. The third installment of the Warrior series, Forest of Secrets, must be read after the first two books in order to be understood.

 Forest of Secrets contains a forbidden love, in which two cats from a different clan risk everything to sneak away from their camps to be together. The secret relationship adds excitement and suspense. Readers will also enjoy a gratifying end to the book as Tigerclaw’s true intentions are finally revealed. Readers who have read the previous books will be drawn into the drama of divided loyalties and will enjoy watching Fireheart grow as a brave leader.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • When asked about a past battle, a cat explained, “Oakheart came out of nowhere. He sank his teeth into Redtail’s scuff and pulled him off Stonefur.”
  • While Fireheart and his friends were out, a badger attacked them. “Fireheart raked his claws down the badger’s side, and the huge beast rounded on him with a roar, jaws snapping. It was fast; it might even have caught Fireheart if Brackenpaw hadn’t leaped from the side, clawing for its eyes.”
  • ShadowClan wants Brokenstar, their former leader, to be executed, but ThunderClan doesn’t think it’s right to kill a cat in cold blood. Fireheart and his clanmates have to fight to protect Brokenstar. A fight breaks out. “He pinned Nightstar down, his teeth buried in the lead’s bony shoulder. Nightstar writhed under him and then heaved upward. Fireheart lost his balance and suddenly found that he was trapped—the warrior, though old, was still ferociously strong. Nightstar bared his fangs, his eyes gleaming. All of a sudden he reared back, letting Fireheart go. Shaking blood from his eyes, Fireheart saw that Brackenpaw had leaped at the ShadowClan leader and was clinging to his back with all four paws. Nightstar tried vainly to shake him off and then rolled over, crushing Brackenpaw against the ground. The apprentice let out a furious howl.” The fight goes on for three pages.
  • Tigerclaw shows up to try to kill Bluestar and take over the camp. “Graystripe was wrestling a rogue with a pale coat, the two of them rolling over and over as they tried to get ahold with teeth and claws. Brindleface and Speckletail were fighting against a warrior twice their size. Near the warriors’ den, Mousefur dug her front claws into the shoulder of a tabby, while her back claws shredded his flank. Then Fireheart froze with shock. At the other side of the clearing, Brokentail had pounced on his guard, Dustpelt, fastening his teeth in the younger cat’s throat. Dustpelt was struggling furiously to free himself. Though Brokentail was blind, he was still a formidable fighter, and he hung on. . . He was bowled over by a rogue cat. His flank stung as claws raked down it. Green eyes glared a mouse-length from his own. Fireheart bared his fangs and tried to bite down into the enemy’s shoulder, but the rogue cat battered him away.” The fight goes on for five pages.
  • Tigerclaw tries to kill Bluestar, but fails when Fireheart finds out.
  • Brokenstar’s mother gives him death berries, which kill him.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • When angry, the cats occasionally call each other terms such as mouse dung, crowfood, furball, and mouse brain. For example, Bluestar got angry and said, “What a mouse-brained fool.”
  • While the cats are arguing, Tallstar said, “You’re willing to give shelter to that . . . that heap of fox dung!”
  • When a cat said something stupid, another said, “That’s the most mouse-brained thing I’ve ever heard.”
  • Tigerclaw made a mistake and said, “Mouse dung!”

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • StarClan is the heavenly tribe of dead warrior cats that watches over all the cat clans. Cats that die go to StarClan and can come back in dreams to share visions or prophecy. StarClan can help shape fate because they can see the future.
  • When the cats got into an argument, a cat said, “He’d find fault with StarClan.”
  • When Fireheart was dreaming, Spottedleaf, the dead medicine cat, came to him and said, “Remember, Fireheart, water can quench fire.”
  • When they were talking, he said, “I swear by StarClan.” Twice.
  • Spottedleaf came to Fireheart in a dream to give him hope.
  • While Fireheart and Graystripe were in the river, Fireheart muttered, “StarClan help us.”
  • After they got out of the river, they said, “Thank StarClan.”
  • While a cat was complaining, another said, “He’d complain if StarClan descended from Silverpelt themselves to bring him bedding.
  • When the cats were trying to go to the gathering, they said, “StarClan would be angry if we didn’t try.”
  • While they were arguing at a Gathering Bluestar said, “Would you risk the wrath of StarClan?”
  • At the warrior ceremony to get your warrior name, the leader has to say, “Then by the power of StarClan, I give you your warrior name.”
  • Medicine cats have to go to highstones in order to share tongues with StarClan. When there, they can talk with them and receive advice.
  • When a cat said that she didn’t do enough, another cat told her, “Oh? StarClan told you that, did they?”
  • A cat died and to comfort his friend, Fireheart said, “She hunts with StarClan now.”
  • A cat was trying to kill another cat and said, “Remember me to StarClan.”
  • Spottedleaf came in Fireheart’s dream and said, “StarClan is calling you, Fireheart . . . Do not be afraid.”
  • Fireheart was thinking, “He could go on from this moment, guided by his leader, and with Spottedleaf and StarClan watching over him.”

by Paige Michelle

 

 

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

The world finally believes that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is back. While the ministry is scrambling to respond, Dumbledore has called the Order of the Phoenix, a secret society that fought He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named last time, back into service. Harry, who is still reeling from the death of his godfather, is ready to join the Order and fight. But things prove more complicated. He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is in hiding, and the adults in Harry’s life seem to think it is more important for him to return to school than to join the Order and fight.

Dumbledore is the only person who seems to think Harry can be of use. Dumbledore enlists Harry’s aid in exploring one of the most cloaked mysteries in the magical world – how He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named rose to power and achieved immortality. While He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named has returned, Dumbledore believes there is a way to make the Dark Lord mortal once more, and Harry is the only one who can solve this vital mystery.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince continues the theme of a longer page count, which can be found in books 4-7 of the Harry Potter series. Although this novel has a serious tone, there are lighter moments that keep the story from becoming too heavy. The original cast continues to develop in interesting ways, and Harry’s frequent trips into He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named’s past bring vivid new characters to life.

While still appropriate for most elementary readers, the end of this story does include Inferius, which are dead bodies bewitched to do a dark wizard’s bidding. This scene may frighten more timid readers. However, more mature elementary students and junior high students will love exploring the mysterious web that is the childhood of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, and will wait with bated breath to see where it leads.

Sexual Content

  • Fleur is a beautiful French woman who kisses people on the cheek as a form of greeting. Once she, “swoop[ed] to kiss [Harry] on each cheek; He felt the places where her mouth had touched him burn.”
  • In a fit of rage, Mr. Gaunt tries to strangle his daughter. “His hands closed around his daughter’s throat . . . with a roar of rage, Morfin leapt out of his chair and ran at Ogden, brandishing his bloody knife and firing hexes indiscriminately from his wand. Ogden ran for his life.”
  • When Harry realizes Mundungus has been stealing Sirius’ things, he “pinned Mundungus against the wall of the pub by the throat.”
  • The headmistress of an orphanage mentions a bullying problem. “Billy Stubbs’s rabbit . . . well, Tom said he didn’t do it, and I don’t see how he could have done, but even so, it didn’t hang itself from the rafters, did it.”
  • Harry sees “Dean and Ginny, who were locked in a close embrace and kissing fiercely as though glued together.”
  • Ron gets a girlfriend and kisses her frequently. “There, in full view of the whole room, stood Ron wrapped so closely around Lavender Brown it was hard to tell whose hands were whose.”
  • After winning the Quidditch Cup, “without thinking, without planning it, without worrying about the fact that fifty people were watching, Harry kissed her. After several long moments – or it might have been half an hour – or possibly several sunlit days – they broke apart.”

Violence

  • Malfoy freezes Harry with a charm and, “stomped, hard, on Harry’s face. Harry felt his nose break; blood spurted everywhere.”
  • Snape has posters on the wall in his classroom. One is a poster of what happens when someone is attacked by Inferius (corpses bewitched to do a dark wizard’s bidding). The poster merely shows, “a blood mass upon the ground.”
  • Ron gets attacked by birds. He, “helped and covered his face with his hands, but the birds attacked, pecking and clawing at every bit of flesh they could reach.”
  • Ron punches Harry while under the influence of a potion. “A crashing blow hit him on the right ear . . . Ron’s fist was drawn right back; his face was contorted with rage.”
  • Dobby and Kreacher get in a fight. “Dobby sank his knobbly little fist into Keacher’s mouth and knocked out half of his teeth. Harry and Ron both leapt out of their beds and wrenched the two elves apart, though they continued to try and kick and punch each other.”
  • Harry uses a spell without knowing what it does. “Blood spurted from Malfoy’s face and chest as though he had been slashed with an invisible sword. He staggered backward and collapsed onto the waterlogged floor with a great splash, his wand falling from his limp right hand.”
  • Snape kills Dumbledore. “A jet of green light shot from the end of Snape’s wand and hit Dumbledore squarely in the chest. Harry’s scream of horror never left him; silent and unmoving, he was forced to watch as Dumbledore was blasted into the air. For a split second, he seemed to hang suspended beneath the shining skull, and then he fell slowly backward, like a great rag doll, over the battlements and out of sight.”
  • Dumbledore and Harry are attacked by Inferius. “The surface of the lake was no longer mirror-smooth; it was churning, and everywhere Harry looked, white heads and hands were emerging from the dark water, mem and women and children with sunken, sightless eyes were moving toward the rock: an army of the dead rising from the black water.”
  • There is a fight when Death Eaters get into Hogwarts. It takes place over seven pages. “One of the fighters detached themselves from the fray and flew at him: It was the werewolf, Fenrir. He was on top of Harry before Harry could raise his wand: Harry fell backward, with filthy matted hair in his face, the stench of sweat and blood filling his nose and mouth.” Later, a Death Eater “slashed at the air: Harry felt a white-hot, whiplike something hit him across the face and was slammed backward into the ground. Spots of light burst in front of his eyes.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • The Minister of Magic offers the Prime Minister whisky during a meeting.
  • Snape serves wine to his visitors. “Snape poured out three glasses of bloodred wine and handed two of them to the sisters.”
  • When Dumbledore picks Harry up at the Dursleys, he conjures a glass of “Madam Rosmerta’s finest oak-matured mead” for everyone. The Dursleys don’t drink it, but Harry, “sipped. He had never tasted anything like it before, but enjoyed it immensely.”
  • The headmistress of an orphanage gets tipsy on gin during a meeting with Dumbledore. “It soon became clear that Mrs. Cole was no novice when it came to gin drinking. Pouring both of them a generous measure, she drained her own glass in one gulp.”
  • Professor Trelawny often leaves “a whiff of cooking sherry behind her.”
  • Harry is given Chocolate Cauldrons with firewhisky in them, but he does not eat them.
  • A professor has a “glass of mead in one hand” during a party.
  • After Christmas, the Fat Lady is hungover because she and her friend “drank their way through all the wine in that picture of drunk monks.”
  • Dumbledore “handed Voldemort a goblet of wine” when Tom Riddle applied to be a teacher at Hogwarts, many years ago.
  • Ron is poisoned by a glass of mead. “Ron had dropped his glass; he half-rose from his chair and then crumpled, his extremities jerking uncontrollably. Foam was dribbling from his mouth, and his eyes were bulging from their sockets.”
  • Professor Slughorn and Hagrid get drunk after a funeral. The scene takes place over seven pages. At one point, Hagrid and Slughorn were sitting side by side, arms around each other, singing a slow sad song about a dying wizard called Odo.”

Language

  • Damn and hell are used a few times. For example, Harry says Snape, “didn’t think my mother was worth a damn either.”
  • Mr. Dursley yells, “what the hell is that?” when he sees a house elf.
  • Ron calls his brothers gits.

Supernatural

  • Harry Potter goes to a school of wizards and is a part of an entire world of magic. His studies include divination, potions, and defense against the dark arts. He goes to school in a castle with magical rooms, house elves, and a potion master who can brew liquid luck. He encounters borrowed memories, the magical equivalent of zombies, and a prophecy. In short, Harry is surrounded by magic and supernatural occurrences every day of his life. As such, not all instances are listed here.
  • Although the series revolves around magic, the story does not encourage children to try magic on their own. To cast a spell, wizards simply say a word and wave their wand. For example, saying luminos casts light.
  • Professor Trelawney made a prophecy about the Dark Lord before Harry was born. She does not remember making the prophecy afterward, but it is stored in a secret Hall of Prophecies hidden in the Ministry of Magic.

Spiritual Content

  • There are ghosts in the castle that behave like regular (although transparent) people. One of Harry’s teachers is even a ghost.
  • He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named splits his soul and hides pieces of his soul in precious, hidden objects. His goal is to become immortal and unkillable. If he is killed, the pieces of his soul remain, and therefore he cannot truly die.

by Morgan Lynn

 

 

The Lonely Dead

For years, doctors have told Adele that she has schizophrenia, that the ghosts she sees are just a figment of her imagination. Adele is tired of living in a drug-induced fog and decides to ditch the drugs. But now the ghosts are back. When Adele finds her ex-best friend’s body and her ghost, she realizes the dead aren’t really dead and only she can talk to them.

When Tori’s body is found in a shallow grave, the police focus their investigation on Adele. As the prime suspect in the murder, Adele decides to find the killer, which means working with Tori’s ghost. When Tori begins questioning others, danger comes from all directions. Will she be able to find the murderer or will the murderer silence Adele forever?

The Lonely Dead has an interesting premise but lacks suspense or any sense of urgency. Adele lacks personality and common sense. In her search to find the killer, the clues come too easily and she makes unwise choices. It is difficult to believe that she would trust a murder suspect just because the suspect is good-looking. Even though Tori’s death should add a tragic tone to the story, it is hard to feel sorry for the self-centered girl who was mean to everyone and lacked self-control.

The story teaches about the dangers of alcohol and the importance of being aware of one’s surroundings. However, the author takes the idea of a blackout too far. Tori does not know who killed her because she blacked out, and Adele wonders if she blacked out and then killed Tori. Not only is this unrealistic, but Adele’s confusion borders on the absurd.

Adele is surrounded by turmoil; both her mother and grandmother died due to mental disorders, her harsh grandfather gives her little support, and she is friendless. The story focuses too much on Adele’s inner monologue as well as her past struggles. Instead of being interesting, the family’s background takes away from the murder mystery and adds little to the story. To make matters worse, the police, the student teacher, and the psychologist are all portrayed in a negative light.

One good point of the story is the focus on Tori’s bad behavior. Adele points out that Tori hurt people when she ignored them. Adele said, “You might not ever have laid a hand on them, but it still hurts when someone acts like you’re not even there.” You may want to avoid The Lonely Dead since the murder mystery lacks interesting characters, surprises, or a sense of urgency.

Sexual Content

  • Adele goes to kiss a boy. “My improvised plan is to cover his mouth with my thumbs and then kiss them. It’s a game kids used to play. . . And instead of kissing my thumbs, I press my lips against Charlie’s warm, soft ones.”
  • While playing hide and seek at a party, Adele ends up in a closet with Tori’s boyfriend, Luke. They kiss. Adele, “found my mouth suddenly pressed against his. We weren’t making a sound, but it was like everything inside of me was singing and shouting. I was alive and kissing. . . Under my hands, his shoulders were taunt with muscle. My nose filled with his sharp smell that was at once familiar and not. His mouth tasted like beer.” Tori finds them.
  • At the party, Tori was “dirty dancing with some of the guys, even at one point dropping the straps on her dress and flashing everyone.”
  • Someone says that Tori was “all over Ethan” even though he has a girlfriend.
  • Tori implied that she had a sexual relationship with a student teacher and “that it was her idea.”
  • One of the character’s dads was cheating on his wife, so she kicks him out of the house.
  • Luke kisses Adele. She thinks, “Luke’s lips are so soft, but then they press into me hard. I freeze. My heart pulses in my ears. My skin feels tight. It’s like I’m drowning, like there isn’t enough air.”
  • Adele kisses Charlie. “I put my arms around him. Then I close my eyes and press my mouth to Charlie’s. Just as I remember, his lips are soft and warm, and he tastes like peppermint.”

Violence

  • The story revolves around discovering who murdered Tori. When Adele finds the body, she discovers a “dark line that runs across her throat. She wasn’t choked with hands, but with something like a thin rope. Other, shallower red marks run from just under her chin to the hollow of her throat. Tori must have clawed her own skin, trying to save herself. On the back of her neck, the dark line ends in two purple-red oval bruises.”
  • Tori said her father never “leaves bruises,” but “he’s pushed me a few times when I made him mad. Once he grabbed me and wouldn’t let me go to a party.”
  • Adele meets the ghost of a prostitute that was killed by a customer. The ghost tells Adele, “The guy who did it was one of my regulars.”
  • When Adele’s grandfather discovers that Adele has stopped taking her medication, he slaps her. “My mouth falls open as the blood rushes to my stinging skin.”
  • A girl accuses Adele of killing Tori, then pushes Adele. Someone throws something at Adele. Luke steps in to protect Adele, and fists are thrown. “Then Luke hits him square in the nose. Justin staggers back, blood slicking his upper lip.” A girl slips and hurts her arm.
  • The person who killed Tori tries to kill Adele. “He shifts his grip, and the leash tightens even further, making me cough.” Adele hits the person in the throat and is able to escape. There is a chase and Adele is able to hit the person with a board. “It hits his head with a sound like a cantaloupe falling to the floor.” The person is arrested.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • When Adele is walking through the park, a girl calls out to her. Adele thinks, “I’m afraid of homeless guys, of drunk guys, of guys who might try to drag me into the bushes. Not of some girl who knows my name.”
  • Adele wonders if her friend is drunk or on drugs.
  • Adele sees ghosts, but her doctor and grandfather think she is schizophrenic. She is supposed to take pills to keep her from being delusional. Adele doesn’t like taking drugs because they “bleed the color from everything. How they make me feel dizzy and drowsy and sick to my stomach.”
  • Adele attends Tori’s party, where teens are drinking alcohol. The ghost of Tori doesn’t remember much about the party because she was drinking “shots.” When Adele saw Tori at the party, “she had a glass in her hand, and half of those times she was shouting ‘Shots’ then tossing down her drink.” The class discusses the dangers of drinking including alcohol poisoning and blackouts.
  • A class assignment asks students to think about Dwight. He “drinks on weekends, he turns into a different person. He is belligerent and aggressive, and often gets into fights.”
  • At the funeral viewing, “cigarette and even pot smoke lingers in the air, and a few of my classmates are tipping back flasks I’m pretty sure hold more than just water.”

Language

  • Oh God and Oh my God are used several times as exclamations.
  • Hell is used three times. For example, when Tori finds Adele kissing her boyfriend, she yells, “What the hell? What the actual hell?”
  • Crap, damn, and pissed are used once.
  • Tori calls Luke a jerk.

Supernatural

  • Adele can see and talk to ghosts of people and animals. The dead are tethered to their body by a cord that runs to their bodies ’ skull. Tori says that some ghosts, “who’ve been here a long time say that folks from really old graves keep getting fainter and fainter. A couple have just disappeared. And people who’re cremated—they say you never see them at all, even if the remains are buried here on the grounds.”
  • Adele meets the ghost of a girl who died on the Oregon Trail. The ghost tells her that wolves would dig up the graves. While on the trail she saw, “an arm lying in the wagon ruts. Just an arm. We never could find the grave from which it came.”

Spiritual Content

  • Tori wonders if she is in “limbo.” But Adele tells her, “I think the Catholics did away with that.” Then Tori asks, “So is this hell? Being stuck here with no one to talk to besides you?”
  • After Tori dies, she realizes how painful it is to have people ignore her, and she says, “Maybe God has a sense of humor.”

The Battle of Riptide

Gray and Barkley have always had to worry about Goblin shiver, but now the fish are whispering of a greater threat. Finnivus has a vicious armada, and he plans on expanding his empire. Finnivus won’t stop killing until he is the emperor of the seven seas.

Gray isn’t sure what he can do, but then Takiza appears. Takiza, a wise and mysterious fighting fish, has made Gray his apprentice. With Takiza’s instruction, Gray will learn what it means to be a great warrior. Gray isn’t convinced that he can learn how to defeat Finnivus and his armada. Can Gray find the courage to fight? Will he lead his shiver to a victory or to their deaths?

The second installment of the Shark Wars series ramps up the action as shark shivers struggle to survive. Finnivus, a spoiled king, gives the story a new, interesting threat. Readers will root for Finnivus’s demise because the young shark is a truly self-centered, evil king. Although it is no surprise that Gray will have to face Finnivus, the shark action is nicely interwoven between Gray’s training scenes.

New, interesting characters are added, which allows readers to see how the sharks must work together to defeat Finnivus. The battle isn’t portrayed in a glamorous way, but is portrayed as being ­­necessary to defeat evil. Although the death count is high, the deaths are not described in a gory manner. However, some readers may be upset when a shark eats her shivermates.

Readers who have not read Shark Wars may have difficulty understanding the dynamics of the characters. The sharks’ world is brought to life in a realistic, interesting way and includes shark language such as landsharks, shiver, chop chop, and greenie. The cover of the book has a picture of each shark, which allows readers to understand the size and physical differences of characters.

The Battle of Riptide explores the theme of loyalty and illustrates that loyalty should not be more important than doing what is right. The fast-paced story will keep readers interested with the well-developed characters, an evil king, and intense battle scenes. But the best part of the story is reading about Gray’s struggle to become a courageous leader worthy of being respected. With 242 pages and no pictures, Shark Wars is a good choice for fluent readers. Anyone who wants to swim into a good shark story will enjoy The Battle of Riptide. Readers will want to make sure they have the third book in the series, Into the Abyss, ready to read because even though Gray and his allies have won the battle, it is clear that the war will continue.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • When Snork gets stuck in the coral, Razor Shiver attacks. In order to defend his friend, Striker “hurtled out of nowhere and speared a streaking bull shark in the flank, butting it away from biting Gray. . . Barkley took on another bull as Shell rammed a third. It was a melee!” When Snork gets free, the group flees.
  • King Finnivus’s herald goes to talk to Razor. In anger, Razor, “roared and took the herald’s dorsal fin with one clean bite.” A battle ensues and, “after only a few fin flicks, there was blood everywhere. . . It was a slaughter. Then two Indi Shiver sharks—a blue shark and a mako—struck at Razor himself, one mauling his dorsal, the other taking his right fin. Razor was finished!” The attack happens over three pages.
  • Two sharks attack Gray and Barkley. “When Gray emerged from behind the pillar of coral, he was zooming straight at his attackers. Surprise! Gray smashed into the mako, snout to snout. He weighed much, much more than that shark and heard its spine audibly snap. It sank, a surprised look frozen on its face.” Barkley bites an attacking shark and, “the blue shark keeled over and sank, warm blood rising from the wound.” The attack happens over four pages.
  • Valenka plots Goblin’s death. She lures Goblin to a quiet location where ocean creatures inject him with poison. “The toxic dwellers stung Goblin on his belly and by the bends on his fines. Goblin screamed in frustration as the stonefish kept low and underneath him. . . Goblin stiffened as if he had swum into an invisible wall when the jellyfish stung him in the gills. . . With a last audible hiss, Goblin rolled belly up. . .Then Valenka bit Goblin in the gills.” The scene takes place over two pages.
  • After defeating Goblin shiver, the shiver is served to King Finnivus. Valenka takes part in the meal. “Valenka looked at the faces of her ex-shivermates arranged on a rock disc carried on the backs of four sea turtles. . . Halfway through the meal, Valenka discovered it wasn’t so bad. In fact, Streak was kind of tasty.”
  • When Finnivus demands Gray’s head for dinner, Gray attacks. “Gray roared, rocketing forward and catching the Indi mariners by surprise. He rammed the nearest one in the liver and ricocheted off two others. . .” Gray is able to escape and no one is injured.
  • The story ends with a multi-chapter battle. Many are killed, but most deaths are not described. During the battle, “Barkley barely avoided a bite at his left fin as he struggled to keep up. . . The richly tattooed armada commander, a young spinner shark, looked over an instant before Gray struck. The bite was clean and deep. Blood clouded the water as the spinner’s eyes rolled upward to the whites.” The Indi shiver retreats.

 Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • Heck is used once.
  • Barkley tells another shark, “Suck algae, you big bully!”
  • Gray calls someone a “chowderheaded flipper.”
  • Two times, someone says, “Shut your cod hole before I rip off your tail and feed it to you.”
  • Finnivus yells at someone. “You are nothing but an old, krill-faced, jelly-brained drifter that my father should have gotten rid of a long time ago!”
  • Someone calls Gray a “jelly-brain.”

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • Sharks that die go to the “Sparkle Blue.”

 

Bounce Back

Zayd has been working hard to prove that he can lead his team to the playoffs. When he injures his ankle, he’s forced to watch from the sidelines. Zayd feels as if his basketball dreams will never come true.  As Zayd watches from the bench, he struggles to figure out what his role is. Should he give his teammates advice or just cheer from the sidelines?

Zayd’s story focuses on Zayd’s basketball team as well as his Uncle Jamal’s upcoming wedding. The story shows basketball action and Zayd’s family life. Bounce Back gives readers a glimpse into the life of a large Pakistani family. Every member of Zayd’s family helps with Jamal’s wedding plans, and Zayd discovers that helping choreograph a dance is much like coaching basketball.

Bounce Back has less basketball action and focuses more on the changing dynamics of Zayd’s family. His father has a minor heart attack and has a difficult time finding the energy to exercise. Zayd and his sister think of a clever way to get their grandfather up and moving. The strong family bonds shine through and give the story more depth.

Even though Zayd cannot play, his parents make him support his team by attending practices and games. Zayd struggles with feeling jealous when he watches someone play in his position. Zayd says, “You don’t know how horrible it feels to sit there and watch and not play.” Despite the feelings of jealousy, in the end, Zayd learns the importance of helping his team despite his injury. Zayd’s coach is also portrayed in a positive light and leads his team to the playoffs without screaming or demeaning the players.

Readers can enjoy Bounce Back even if they have not read the previous books in the series. The easy-to-follow plot will engage readers. Zayd is a likable, relatable character that tells his story with humor and honesty. Bounce Back teaches the importance of helping others, even if it is from the sidelines. Some readers who enjoyed the Zayd Saleem, Chasing the Dream Series may also want to read The Contract Series by Derek Jeter.

Sexual Content

  • When Zayd’s uncle gets married, Zayd asks, “Dude, aren’t you supposed to, like, kiss the bride.” People laugh and then the imam says, “How about they. . . ahem. . . celebrate in private later.”

Violence

  • None

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • Zayd’s mother says, “Oh thank God. Then he sees her “mouthing a prayer.”
  • When Zayd’s grandfather becomes ill, his mother asks someone to “keep my father in your prayers.”
  • Zayd sees his grandmother. “She has her scarf on her hair and is praying. A worn copy of the Quran is sitting next to her.”

Fire and Ice

Fireheart has fulfilled his heart’s desire and is now a full member of ThunderClan. Fireheart and his friend Graystripe have their paws full with being newly anointed warriors. But Fireheart cannot forget WindClan’s disappearance. Soon he and Graystripe find themselves on a mission to go find WindClan. It is a perilous journey.

Adding more weight to Fireheart’s shoulders, is Graystripe’s secret romance. The two warriors have been given apprentices, but with Graystripe constantly sneaking off to meet a she-cat from another Clan, Fireheart is forced to train Graystripe’s apprentice in addition to his own. The weight of the world is on Fireheart’s shoulders, tensions are high between the clans, and rogue cats are threatening everything. In this exciting installment of the Warriors series, Fireheart faces not only an imminent battle, but betrayal from within his own Clan.

As the second installment of the Warriors series, Fire and Ice continues from where Into the Wild ended. The book continues to take the reader into the fantasy world of the cat clans. As readers progress through the books, they will become attached to the characters. Even though the story revolves around cats, the characters are relatable and deal with many human conflicts. The cats have to tackle issues relating to loyalty to oneself as well as others. Readers will relate to the characters who feel alone and different from everyone else. Fire and Ice contains mystery, good, evil, secrets, and love.

Fire and Ice matches the previous installment of the Warriors book with action, an important mission, and secret romance, creating a high-stakes story. The plot has several surprising developments. As readers get further introduced to the warrior social hierarchy with Fireheart and Graystripe’s new apprentices, they will fall in love with the characters and identify with them. Get ready for book three, Forest of Secrets, because readers will be clamoring for more after finishing Fire and Ice.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • While traveling back home through RiverClan territory, Fireheart and Graystripe get into a fight. “The RiverClan warrior raked his side with sharp claws. Fireheart twisted and bit into the fur of his attacker. He clamped his jaws tight and heard the warrior yowl, but the other cat’s claws only raked him more fiercely.” The whole fight takes three pages. One cat dies because they fell into the gorge while fighting.
  • Brokenstar came to invade ThunderClan’s camp. The battle took five pages. “Fireheart leaped straight for Brokenstar and grasped the dark brown tabby with his claws. Life as an outlaw had treated the former Clan leader harshly-Fireheart could feel the ribs of the flea-bitten tom beneath his fur. Bur Brokenstar was still strong. He twisted around and sank his teeth into Fireheart’s hind leg. Fireheart yowled and hissed with rage, but kept his grip. Brokenstar struggled forward, scrambling with his paws on the frozen ground. Fireheart felt his claws raking along Brokenstar’s bony flanks as the rogue warrior ripped himself free. Fireheart lunged after him, but other claws were grasping at his hindlegs.”
  • ShadowClan and RiverClan attacked WindClan. ThunderClan came to help in the battle that goes on for six and a half pages. “Fireheart spotted Morningflower wrestling with a ShadowClan warrior. The WindClan queen looked exhausted and frightened, her fur standing in ragged clumps. Still, she nimbly turned and scratched her attacker, but he was much bigger and knocked her easily to the ground with a heavy blow. With a howl, Fireheart leaped and landed squarely on the shoulders of the Shadowclan tom. He clung on when the surprised warrior spun and tried to shake him loose. Morningflower raked the tom with her claws as Fireheart dragged him to the ground. The ShadowClan warrior screeched and ripped himself free. He ran into the prickly camp wall and pushed his way through.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • When angry, the cats occasionally call each other terms such as mouse dung, crowfood, furball, and mouse brain. For example, Bluestar got angry and said, “What a mouse-brained fool.”
  • Two cats were in an argument, and one said, “You’re a mouse-brained fool.”

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • StarClan is the heavenly tribe of dead warrior cats that watches over all the cat clans. Cats that die go to StarClan and can come back in dreams to share visions or prophecy. StarClan can help shape fate because they can see the future.
  • StarClan must accept new leaders. “Hasn’t he been accepted by StarClan yet?”
  • StarClan sends Barkface, the medicine cat, a message saying, “There is trouble ahead. This day shall bring an unnecessary death.”
  • A Clan leader gets nine lives. Bluestar lost one of her lives, and now she only has one more life left.
  • StarClan got angry that cats were fighting at a gathering, so they sent clouds to cover the moon. “StarClan sent clouds to cover the moon.”
  • A cat had to go and find a patrol and Fireheart said to him, “May StarClan go with you.”
  • When there was a warrior ceremony, Bluestar said, “Then by the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior names.”
  • Spottedleaf, the dead medicine cat, came to Fireheart in a dream and said, “A battle is coming, Fireheart. Beware a warrior you cannot trust.

by Paige Michelle

 

The Wild Robot

ROZZUM unit 7134, more frequently referred to as Roz, is the sole surviving robot of a shipwreck that lost nearly two hundred other robots. The island Roz is stranded on is devoid of any human life, but there are a wide variety of wild animals who all see Roz as a monster. Eventually, Roz begins to blend in with the animals, and she even learns how to speak like them. Roz soon becomes a part of the island.

The harmony Roz and the animals enjoy does not last very long. A ship spots Roz, and three “RECO” robots are deployed to bring her back to society. The RECO units will use force to get Roz to leave, but she wants to stay with the animals she has grown so attached to. In addition to raising a gosling, surviving winter, and almost becoming an animal, Roz now has to survive an encounter with her own kind.

The Wild Robot is, at first glance, a seemingly lighthearted book about a robot learning to live alongside animals. Even though Roz has many human qualities, she is not entirely relatable due to her robotic nature. However, readers will relate to Roz being in a new environment and not knowing what to do.  Like many people, Roz must adapt and overcome obstacles. Through her struggles, Roz receives help from the animals on the island and learns the value of friendship. They endure numerous hardships together, including death and violence between animals. Death is presented in the book, but the characters die in relatively tame ways and learn to cope with the loss of their friends and even parents in a healthy way.

Even though the story focus on a robot, it provides themes that can easily be related to the real world. The Wild Robot explores the difficulties of integrating into a new setting, as well as an adopted family between a robot and a gosling. Roz and the animals have to trust each other when outsiders threaten their home, and they become closer as a result. The Wild Robot creates an environment of diverse characters that cooperate for a common good.

The Wild Robot tells its story through short chapters that describe events at a rapid pace. With short sentences, chapters, and simple vocabulary, the book is very easy to read. The pictures in the book are sprinkled throughout the chapters, and they are drawn in a cute comic style depicting the events that Roz and the animals experience.

Peter Brown has created a story of an outsider overcoming prejudice, and he has done so in both a tranquil and thrilling way. The Wild Robot introduces characters who are not humans but think and act like humans. Although the story isn’t full of excitement, Brown keeps the reader’s attention through beautiful descriptions of the island, diverse characters, and a unique plot, ultimately creating a powerful story. Instead of having a happy ending, the conclusion is open-ended which allows the reader to come to their own conclusions as to what Roz will do. Roz’s next adventure continues in the second book in the series, The Wild Robot Escapes.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • There is no violence between humans, but there are multiple instances of violence occurring with robots described in a human way. For example, during a shipwreck, “Robot limbs and torsos were flung onto ledges. A robot head splashed into a tide pool. A robot foot skittered into the waves.”
  • The protagonist of the story observes “vultures hunched over carcasses.”
  • A fox recounts his attack of a porcupine, “I didn’t think that porcupine could see me in the bushes, but when I went for his throat, suddenly there were quills in my face.”
  • The main character falls into a goose nest, leaving “two dead geese and four smashed eggs among the carnage.”
  • Again, the main character is a robot with human attributes but still faces violence. Two bears “slashed at Roz’s body” at one point.
  • In the aftermath of a harsh winter, Roz finds “A frozen mouse. A frozen bird. A frozen deer,” as well as several other animals that have frozen to death.
  • After the snow from the aforementioned winter melts away, the frozen creatures become visible, and “their corpses were slowly revealed.”
  • A farmer with a rifle shoots a goose, described from the animals’ perspective as “a bright beam of light [shooting] out from the rifle, and Longneck slumped to the floor.”
  • A goose is “plucked by her foot and flung to the ground” by a robot.
  • A rifle is pulled apart, and a “blinding explosion” results in “Roz’s arms and legs… completely blown off.”
  • Geese surround a rifle and pick it up, then use it to shoot a robot, creating “a beam of light” that left the robot’s chest “glowing brilliant orange… melting and oozing down his front.”
  • An opossum “rolled onto her back, stuck out her tongue, and died,” although it was only faking its death.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • There are numerous instances of animals defecating, such as a robin “splatter[ing] her droppings across the robot’s face.”
  • Roz is called a “monster” and a “creature” by the animals multiple times.
  • Mr. Beaver is called “rude and stubborn.”

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

by Dylan Chilcoat

Into the Wild

Four Clans of wild cats share the forest. Their ancestors created the Warrior Code, an unbreakable law of the forest that all warrior cats must follow. But the warrior code has been threatened, and because of it, ThunderClan cats are in danger, and warriors are dying mysterious deaths. As the division between the clans widens, Bluestar is desperate to discover the truth behind the deaths and save her clan.

As tensions rise, a new cat appears. Rusty is just a typical pet who lives with the twolegs, but he dreams about living in the forest. When he meets ThunderClan, he is eager to join them, but first, he must fight to win acceptance by a clan that doesn’t want him. Will he be allowed to join ThunderClan? Can Rusty prove himself a brave warrior, or will his kittypet origins be his downfall?

Readers that pick up Into the Wild will jump into a wild forest that is ruled by cats. The fast-paced story shows the world from the cats’ point of view and uses realistic cat terminology. The cats’ world is beautifully described and has strong male and female characters. What truly makes this book (and series) worth reading again and again, is the character development and the surrounding drama. Fluent readers will adore Into the Wild because of the exciting battles, tense drama, and wide cast of characters. The cats often battle, and although the fighting is not gory, some of the evil cats scheme to raise their status by killing, manipulating, and deceiving others. Such actions are always portrayed in a negative light.

Readers will especially fall in love with Firepaw and his friends as they watch them grow up in the beloved ThunderClan. Into the Wild is more than a fun read, it teaches lessons of love, acceptance, and the merits of hard work. Readers will see how the different clans act like people; this gives readers an opportunity to see how others react to cultural differences and prejudice. Readers will learn that you cannot judge someone by where they came from. Get ready to read the rest of the Warriors series, because there will be no turning back once Into the Wild sinks its claws into you.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • When “Rusty” (Firepaw) went to the forest, he was attacked by Graypaw for trespassing. “The creature hit him like an explosion and Rusty was thrown sideways into a clump of nettles. Twisting and yowling, he tried to throw off the attacker that had fastened itself to his back. It was gripping him with incredibly sharp claws. Rusty could feel spiked teeth pricking at his neck. He withered and squirmed from whisker to tail, but he couldn’t free himself.” They fight for a page and a half.
  • When Rusty had to prove himself to the clan, he fought Longtail. “Rusty flattened his ears, narrowed his eyes and hissing, leaped through the startled cats to fling himself onto his tormentor. Longtail was completely unprepared for Rusty’s attack. He staggered sideways, losing his footing on the hard-baked earth. Filled with rage and desperate to prove himself, Rusty dug his claws deep into the tabby cat’s fur and sank in his teeth. No subtle rituals of swiping and boxing preceded this fight. The two cats were locked in a screaming, withering tussle that flipped and somersaulted around the clearing at the heart of the camp.” The fight goes on for a page and a half.
  • Firepaw mistook Graypaw for an enemy warrior and attacked him. “Claws unsheathed, he launched himself at the enemy and landed squarely on a set of furry, muscular shoulders. He dug in hard, gripping with thorn-sharp claws, ready to deal out a powerful warning bite.” They fight for one page until everything gets sorted out.
  • Yellowfang attacked Firepaw. “Firepaw screeched in shock as the she-cat slammed into him, knocking him sideways. Two heavy paws clamped down onto his shoulders, and iron jaws closed around the back of his neck. ‘Murr-oww!, he grunted, already thinking fast.” The fighting takes place over two and a half pages.
  • Firepaw tried to chase a kittypet out of his territory for one page. “Firepaw leaped onto its back in a single bound. Firepaw could feel the cat struggling beneath him as he gripped on with all his claws. It let out a desperate and terrified yowl.”
  • Ravenpaw told a story of a previous battle. “Fur was flying everywhere. Blood spattered the leaves of the bramble bushes, bright red against green. I’d just fought off a huge warrior and sent him squealing into the bushes when the ground shook, and I heard a warrior scream. It was Oakheart! Redtail raced past me, his mouth dripping blood and his fur torn. ‘Oakheart is dead!’ he howled. Then he rushed off to help Tigerclaw as he fought another warrior.”
  • The group of cats was attacked by rats. “Ravenpaw was struggling and clawing at the earth. Something has hold of his leg and was dragging him down into the ditch.”
  • ShadowClan was attacking the ThuderClan camp. “Firepaw caught hold of a tabby warrior queen, much larger than him, and sank his teeth deep into her leg. She yowled with pain and turned on him, lashing out with sharp claws and lunging at his neck with her teeth bared. He twisted and ducked to avoid her bite. She couldn’t match his speed, and he managed to grasp her from behind and pull her down into the dirt. With his strong hind legs, he clawed at her back till she squealed and struggled away from him, running headlong into the thick undergrowth that surrounded the camp.” Rosetail and Lionheart die in the battle, and the battle goes on for four pages.
  • Spottedleaf was killed by a ShadowClan warrior named Clawface.
  • Firepaw and Graypaw attacked Yellowfang. “Then they leaped. Yellowfang yowled with surprise and the two cats landed beside her and pinned her to the ground.”
  • Firepaw attacked Brokenstar with a patrol to get rid of him as a leader. “At Whitestorm’s nodded signal, the Thunderclan cats leaped into the battle. Firepaw grasped a silver tabby with his claws, but was shaken loose. He tumbled over and the ShadowClan warrior turned on him and gripped him with claws as sharp as black thorns. Firepaw managed to twist and sink his teeth deep into the cat’s flesh. The warrior’s yowl told him he had found a tender spot, and he bit harder. The warrior screeched again ripping himself free, and ran off into the bushes.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • When angry, the cats occasionally call each other terms such as mouse dung, crowfood, furball, and mouse brain. For example, Bluestar got angry and said, “What a mouse-brained fool.”
  • When Yellowfang tries to get up and can’t, she mutters, “rat-droppings.”
  • Yellowfang got snappy and said, “Well, that’s my business mousefodder.”
  • After Firepaw made a mistake, Graypaw said, “that was a mouse-brained thing to do.”
  • When they capture a cat from another clan, Firepaw is forced to feed her. Dustpaw says, “Another day looking after that mangy old fleabag…”

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • StarClan is the heavenly tribe of dead warrior cats that watches over all the cat clans. Cats that die go to StarClan and can come back in dreams to share visions or prophecy. StarClan can help shape fate because they can see the future.
  • Cats go to the moonstone, “a gleaming rock, which glittered as if it were made from countless dewdrops,” to share dreams with StarClan and gain answers.
  • StarClan shared a prophecy that said, “only fire can save the Clan.”
  • A clan leader can be granted nine lives from StarClan, and if they die, they can come back to lead their clans. “I think you ought to know that, in the battle with the rats, it was not my fifth life that I lost, but my seventh.”
  • StarClan sends dreams to Firepaw predicting the future.
  • Cats are granted their warrior name, “by the powers of StarClan.”

by Paige Michelle

The Siren

Kahlen and her parents are on a luxury ship when suddenly the passengers begin jumping overboard and the ship sinks. In a panic, Kahlen calls out—she doesn’t want to die. The Ocean itself saves Kahlen and demands that she serve as a siren for 100 years. Kahlen and the other sirens use their beauty and deadly voice to lure humans to their deaths. Kahlen mourns for the strangers that she causes to die, but she is obedient to the Ocean who spared her life.

Kahlen loves her sisters but is looking forward to being released from her siren duties. In twenty years, Kahlen will be a regular human girl. But then she meets Akinli and falls hopelessly in love. Will she risk everything to be with the boy of her dreams? Or will the Ocean kill their love forever?

The story is told from Kahlen’s point of view. Much of the conflict in the story comes from the internal struggle of the sweet, submissive siren. After one date, Kahlen is so in love with Akinli that she cannot live without him. Akinli appears so infrequently that the readers will be left wondering why Kahlen is head over heels in love with him. Although their romance drives the story, there is not enough interaction and chemistry between the two to keep readers emotionally interested in the outcome of their tragic love story.

Although the siren’s world is interesting, most of the time the girls live on land, blending in with ordinary humans. Not only is the sea world underdeveloped, but so are Kahlen’s sister sirens. However, it is clear that the sirens care for each other and will go to any lengths to help each other. Having the Ocean as a character adds interest, but unfortunately, the possessiveness of the Ocean makes the sirens go to great lengths to hide their deeds from her. In the end, the Ocean is much like a possessive, overbearing mother who only thinks of her own needs.

Similar to Cass’s Selection series, The Siren is an easy-to-read story that follows one girl’s struggle. However, The Siren lacks the action of the Selection series. The Siren is like Romeo and Juliet without the fight scenes. For readers who don’t mind spending an entire book reflecting on one character’s internal struggle, The Siren will be an enjoyable read.

Sexual Content

  • Elizabeth goes to bars to find men where she is “quietly luring boys to bed.” She goes home with the men. “Elizabeth could regularly go to a stranger’s apartment, be as intimate as two people could be. . .”
  • Elizabeth says she has “shared plenty of . . . fluids with human men.”
  • Akinli and Kahlen kiss twice. “With my face still cupped in Akinli’s hand, he kissed me. It was brief, but it was enough to send fireworks running down my veins.”

Violence

  • When explaining the background of sirens, Kahlen thinks about a siren that “used her voice to make three girls who had teased her jump into a well . . . She’d put an entire town in an uproar, and the Ocean had silenced her to keep our secret.” Another Siren “murdered a household of people in the night, including an infant, in an outburst. . .”
  • Padma’s father tried to kill her because girls are “too expensive.” When the sirens find her in the ocean, her clothes, “Had been viciously ripped at. There were fresh bruises all over her arms and legs, but most horrifically, when we followed the trail of welts to her ankles and wrists, we saw there were cinder blocks tied to her, keeping her trapped.”
  • The sirens cause a cruise ship to crash and all the people on the ship die. “All around us, people plunged into the water, their fine dresses and slacks seeming grotesque against the backdrop of so much death. . . We sang until the last scream quieted, until the ship was resting on the Ocean floor.” The scene is described over three pages.
  • When a homeless man attacks Elizabeth, “She whispered in his ear to get him off her, and he threw himself into the Hudson.”
  • When the sirens cause a ship to crash, one man calls out to the girls until his voice was “thicker with gargled water” and then he died.
  • Padma and two others kill Padma’s parents because “none of us could allow her to live in the same world as her abusers did.” Their murder is not described.
  • The Ocean threatens to kill Padma. The Ocean “ripped Padma from Elizabeth’s arms, holding her in a vice grip of nothing but water. Padma screamed, trying to move her arms, but was completely paralyzed.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • Kahlen goes out with her siren sisters and had “two drinks, hoping to take the edge off my nerves.”
  • Elizabeth goes to bars to pick up men. One evening, she chooses a boy who had “more to drink that she realized, and he passed out at their table.”
  • Akinli shows Kahlen a picture of him and another guy; the other guy “had a beer in his hand.”

Language

  • One of the characters says his roommate, “took lessons in how to be an ass.”
  • Damn is used twice.
  • Crap is used once.
  • Hell is used three times. For example, Kahlen yells at the Ocean, “Get the hell out of my head!”

Supernatural

  • The story revolves around sirens who are “servants to the Ocean” for a hundred years.
  • The Ocean is a living being that must feed on humans to survive.
  • The Ocean changes the girls into sirens. When Padma is changed, “The Ocean opened Padma’s mouth and forced a strange, dark liquid down her throat. . .” The change makes it so that the girls do not age, but their voices are deadly.
  • Akinli and Kahlen are dying from a mysterious illness. The Ocean explains, “If he hadn’t heard your voice, he’d be fine. . . Now, what happens to one body happens to the other. And since your voice has taken hold of him, killing him slowly, you fall down with him.”

Spiritual Content

  • Kahlen said a prayer.
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